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Black-tailed prairie dogs have sensory adaptions for avoiding predators. Black-tailed prairie dogs have very sensitive hearing at low frequencies that allows them to detect predators early, especially while in their burrows. Black-tailed prairie dog hearing can range from 29 Hz to 26 kHz, and can hear as low as 4 Hz. [35]
Predators, though, seem to have difficulty determining which prairie dog is making the call due to its "ventriloquistic" nature. [ 20 ] Perhaps the most striking of prairie dog communications is the territorial call or "jump-yip" display of the black-tailed prairie dog. [ 27 ]
Prairie dogs have many predators including black-footed ferrets, hawks, foxes, weasels, bobcats, and coyotes. Because of this, the little rodents must be constantly on watch.
Prairie dogs have a unique sound to identify each of various predators. [13] They also have different barks for warning and "all-clear" signals. Researchers and experts have been able to classify up to 11 distinct warning call the prairie dog uses to communicate. [ 14 ]
Rarely does the prairie dog capture and kill the squirrel, but when it does, it leaves the squirrel for avian predators, as the prairie dog is an herbivore. Female white-tailed prairie dogs who killed squirrels had increased litter sizes, but the higher her body count, the lower her chances of surviving each subsequent attack. [6]
Basically, the prairie dog town is surrounded by either homes or highways on all sides. Last year, the Yukon Progress reported that the animals have been venturing onto the highway more often.
A group of Longmont residents are upset over changes coming to a local park and the euthanasia efforts of prairie dogs who live there.
The primary predators of Utah prairie dogs include badgers (Taxidea taxis), many species of raptors (Aquila chrysaetos, Buteo spp.), coyotes (Canis latrans), snakes (Pituophus spp., Crotalus spp.), and long-tailed weasels (Mustela frenata). However, predators do not pose a significant threat to the numbers of prairie dogs in well-established ...