Prairie Dogs
Name: edHelper Prairie Dogs Squirrels come in many shapes and sizes. Most have the word "squirrel" in their names to give away their identities. But others do not. Prairie dogs, for example, are squirrels with misleading names. Scientists have found five types of prairie dogs on Earth. Four of them live in Canada and the U.S., and one in Mexico. The five types are the black-tailed prairie dog, the white-tailed prairie dog, Gunnison's prairie dog, the Utah prairie dog, and the Mexican prairie dog. Prairie dogs are small and stocky. They weigh up to 4 pounds. They have broad heads, chubby bodies, short legs, and sharp claws. All year round, they wear fur coats made of short, coarse hairs. The colors of those hairs are different shades of brown, ranging from yellowish to reddish. Prairie dogs are usually active during the day. They spend many of their waking hours searching for food. For the most part, they are vegetarians. They eat a lot of plant matter, like grasses, weeds, roots, and flowers. They sometimes eat insects, too. As their names suggest, prairie dogs like to live in prairies or grassy areas. They are extremely social animals. That means they never live alone. They always live in colonies. A prairie dog colony, called a town, consists of several wards. Each ward can be further divided into many family units or coteries. A coterie has a single adult male, several adult females, and their babies. Prairie dogs from the same coterie are very close, and they are not shy about expressing their feelings.
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