Fascinating World of Prairie Dogs

Love is in the air in the Highlands, as prairie dog mating season begins. | National Geographic Animals

Prairie dogs live in huge, underground networks called "towns." [VID: Did you know? Prairie dogs live in "towns." Towns are huge, underground burrows, found in the prairies and plateaus of North America. Undisturbed towns have tens of thousands of prairie dog residents and go for miles in every direction. In 1900, a prairie dog town the size of Maryland was discovered in Texas. Its tunnels were home to an estimated 400 million prairie dogs.] | Nature | PBS

Prairie dogs are very social creatures that reside in complex burrows belowground. These tunnels house many colonies or towns of prairie dogs. A family unit is referred to as a coterie, which follows a polygynous mating system consisting of one male and several females. Our coterie of black-tailed prairie dogs recently welcomed four new pups, who can now be seen in the Exploration Zone’s prairie dog habitat. Typically, breeding season is mid-March to mid-April and pups are born after a gestation