His name was Iktomi, of the Teton Sioux. His land was the Black Hills. A Lakota medicine man, Iktomi faced the sharp January winds with only his moccasins and breechcloth, wrapped in a blanket. Against a backdrop of dishwater gray sky and carved granite bluffs, he surveyed the broad prairie before him with appreciation in his heart. He believed that everything had a spirit, including trees, rocks, rivers, and almost every natural being. He called them Pispiza (whistling squirrels), and he respected them as his advisor and for sharing their knowledge of prairie plants and medicine. They were master architects and structural engineers that invited other relatives to live on their land and in their homes. They warn one another of all danger, the exact signal depending on whether the enemy is sintehla (snake), mashlecha, (coyote), or the swift wakinyaha (hawk). But the most powerful medicine the Pispiza shared with Iktomi was the love and care they showed their community. Not only did they pool resources and help neighbors, but they also greeted family members each morning by baring their teeth to deliver a “kiss” as a form of recognition. Now I ask you, what would our world be like if we all greeted each other with a kiss?
Instead, both the Lakota Sioux and prairie dog populations have suffered at the hands of European settlers. They disrupted farms and competed with livestock for grass. As farming and ranching pushed westward, habitat destruction and intentional eradication—to include governmental poisoning programs—reduced prairie dog colonies by roughly 95 percent. The largest prairie dog colony on record was once found in Texas. It was 100 miles wide and 250 miles long and contained an estimated 400 million animals. Today, prairie dogs are found mostly in western portions of the state and in the Panhandle with an estimated population of only 300,000. Surviving colonies are fragmented, and most cover less than 50 acres! At least one “protected” colony of prairie dogs can be seen at Caprock Canyons State Park.
There are five species of prairie dog in North America: black-tailed, Utah, Mexican, white-tailed and Gunnison’s. Caprock Canyons State Park and the Smithsonian’s National Zoo both have black-tailed prairie dogs, our species of focus today. The others have white/gray-tipped tails, smaller molars, and have distinctively different territorial and anti-predator vocalizations. All species—except the black-tailed—hibernate during wintertime.
The black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) is a rodent from the family Sciuridae. Actually, a species of ground squirrel, we call them “dogs” because of their chirpy bark. The common name is a dead giveaway to the most distinctive characteristic of the animal—its stubby little tail looks dipped in black paint. They’re about the size of a small guinea pig or a large hamster and are generally tan with a lighter colored tummy. They have short little ears but phenomenal hearing, sensitive enough to allow them to detect predators from inside their burrows. For black tails, their large claws (for digging) are also distinguishing. Black tails love wide open spaces, including shortgrass prairies, mixed-grass prairies, and desert grasslands. Their primary food is grass, but they will also eat some forbs, nibble prickly pear cactus, and quickly dispatch cutworms and grasshoppers. They’ve even been known to dine on buffalo chips. Most of their essential water comes from diet—they don’t require watering holes.
Research suggests that grasslands occupied by black tails support higher biodiversity than grasslands without them. Black-tailed prairie dogs constantly clip grass, if not for food, then to line their burrows and clear a line of sight for spotting predators. They don’t take the grass down so low as to kill it, rather, they stimulate re-growth that is higher in nutritional quality. This means that grazers like bison, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn all benefit from a prairie dog’s clipping of grass around its colony. It’s ironic that these little guys got to be so hated by ranchers because new colonies are rarely created on rangeland considered to be in “excellent” condition. They prefer land that has been somewhat degraded, yet not overgrazed and prone to erosion.
Black tails are master builders. They build colonies every bit as innovative as some of our human successes like the Navajo pueblos. Their burrows are usually U-shaped with interconnected tunnels, multiple entrances, and numerous listening posts throughout. Earthen mounds keep the burrows from flooding and throughout the colony prairie dogs cut down anything growing taller than 6 inches so they can better see predators coming. Burrows can be anywhere from 7 to 15 feet underground. A nesting chamber is near the bottom and has dry grass bedding.
Prairie dog social structure is complex. Colonies may be subdivided into two or more wards, separated by topographic features like gullies or hills. Wards are then sectioned into two or more cliques or communes called coteries. Within each coterie, everyone knows each other and gets along—but don’t allow outside individuals from the larger colony. Everyone pulls their own weight. A typical day is divided among foraging, interacting with others, maintaining burrows, and scouting for predators. At the beginning of breeding season, a coterie is usually composed of one adult male, 3 or 4 breeding females, and several juveniles of both sexes. As they reach sexual maturity, juveniles disperse to form new loyalties. During warmer months, black-tailed prairie dogs spend most of hot summers sleeping and are active above ground only in the morning and evening. In cooler months, they spend most their day above ground.
Already mentioned, black-tailed prairie dogs don’t fully hibernate during winter; instead, they continue to leave the burrow to forage, but will enter a state of torpor at night to conserve energy. This is like hibernation but involuntary and shorter in duration. On average, black-tailed prairie dogs will lose twenty percent of body weight during fall and winter months.
Prairie dog sex comes with some stringent requirements. Estrus occurs for only one day during breeding season, so hungry males must pay attention. The phrase “get a room” is taken literally with prairie dogs; most mating occurs underground (probably to prevent inter-male competition). Litter size will be between 2 and 8 pups. They are born blind, naked, and helpless. Both sexes help raise the young after they move above ground. Babies will be nursed and groomed above ground by other lactating females (cooperative reproduction) while males protect pups within their coteries against offenders. Age of first reproduction, pregnancy rate, litter size, juvenile growth rate, and first-year survival all depend on food availability and climate.
Prairie dogs are well-known for their sophisticated system of communication. Their vocabulary is more advanced than any other animal language that’s been decoded. Perhaps the most conspicuous form of communication is the jump-yip “wave.” A prairie dog will stretch the entire length of its body vertically and throw its forefeet into the air while making the call. A jump-yip from one causes others nearby to do the same, mimicking “The Wave” at professional sports arenas. The instigator of the jump-yip uses it to assess the vigilance or watchfulness of others in the colony.
Prairie dog society is certainly one of the most organized and sophisticated in the Animal Kingdom. It’s also compassionate. The Lakota realized this and took the prairie dog society as spiritual inspiration for their own. In the book A Boy Named Pispiza, young people were pointed toward the lessons offered by the Prairie Dog Nation. They were urged to train themselves to be very alert to the entire world, and study both the Bird and Animal Nations, and to learn all the stories that they can tell through close and careful observation.
With these precepts, the Lakota lived in a society which had no concept of excess consumption, keeping up with the Joneses, or entitlement. They could not fathom the idea that land, water, and timber might be bought and sold for money. Three grandmas ago, our ancestors arrived on this continent with an opportunity to learn from these enlightened citizens—but they clearly blew it. We arrived with our own ethos: divine right of kings, federalism, and competition. Even though we never speak of our own barbarism, it forever lives in the air between sentences. We crushed the Lakota (and others like them) and eradicated their culture. We also poisoned the prairie dogs. Of course, it’s true the Lakota and prairie dog societies never had what we have today: opioid epidemics, racial violence, and serial school shootings. Good God!
By Larry Gfeller