Utah Prairie Dog
Utah’s endemic prairie dog is a compact, highly social burrower whose upright sentinels animate the high meadows of the state’s southwest.
Artwork inspired by LeConte Stewart
This is the smallest and most geographically restricted of North America’s prairie dogs: Its entire natural range lies in southwestern Utah. Family groups maintain connected burrows, graze grasses and forbs, groom one another, and post sentinels whose calls send neighbors underground. Look for the dark line above the eye and the short tail ending in white.
Sunny warm-season mornings in open Bryce Canyon meadows can be productive, especially from established roads and paths near known towns. Use binoculars, remain on durable surfaces, and never feed or approach the burrows. Prairie-dog fleas can carry sylvatic plague, while trampling around entrances damages a home that also shelters other grassland animals.
- Range
- Only southwestern Utah
- Home
- Social burrow towns
- Winter
- Hibernates underground
Quick guide
- Look for
- Black brow, white tail tip
- Listen for
- Sharp colony alarm calls
Recognize and observe
- Face
- Look for the narrow black eyebrow above each eye when identifying Utah Prairie Dog.
- Tail
- Confirm a short tail with a crisp white tip together with sharp colony alarm calls.
- Behavior
- Use Open plateau meadows with deep, well-drained burrow soil in Southwestern Utah grasslands.
- Distance
- Use distance to observe stay on roads or trails and keep clear of every burrow.
Good to know
A prairie dog standing still is usually watching for danger, not posing. Keep dogs away from colonies, never reach toward a burrow, and do not sit beside entrances; distance protects the animals and reduces exposure to fleas associated with sylvatic plague.
Notice these
- Black eyebrow
- White-tipped short tail
- Upright meadow sentinels