Black-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus: Sciuridae) A squirrel by any other name is still a squirrel be it a ground-dweller or arboreal. This is the best known of the five species of Prairie Dogs. They range from 35-43 cm (14-17 in) long and weigh 0.91-1.4 kg (2-3 lb) and live 3-5 years. These prairie dogs form large colonies called prairie dog towns and one historical town covered 64,000 km2 (25,000 sq mi) and housed some 400 million prairie dogs. When you find a prairie dog town in Texas you are almost guaranteed to find burrowing owls. Photographed in Plainview, Hale County, Texas, U.S.A. Open mixed grass prairie at an elevation of 1,026 m (3,336 ft) in the High Plains Vegetational Area.
