Pipsqueak  “Prairie Dog”

South Dakota is home to roughly half of the black-tailed prairie dogs in North America. Estimating their exact population is nearly impossible, but their colonies number in the thousands and stretch across the prairie in every direction throughout western South Dakota.

Sylvatic plague is common among prairie dogs and causes their populations to fluctuate dramatically. Along with disease, predators such as bobcats, coyotes, eagles, foxes, hawks, and weasels are always on the prowl around prairie dog towns.

In response, their high-alert and hyper nature fuels an intricate warning system, with a series of high-pitched squeaks and chirps that ripple from colony to colony until the threat has passed. The silence rarely lasts long, as new dangers seem to appear constantly for these small, oh-so-cute, yet remarkably resilient creatures.