Let’s Get To Know Some Hidden Facts & Highlights on Prairie Dogs
Let’s start with a quick overview of this exo-pet,
Name: Prairie Dog
Scientific Name: Cynomys
Group: Rodents
Height: 12 inches to 16 inches
Weight: between 1–3 pounds
Life-Span: 5 years (approximately)
Characteristics: Intelligent, Tough, Bit Friendly, Socialize
Other Names: Barking Squirrel, Cynomys Gunnisoni, and Cynomys Ludovicianus
Origin
The Prairie dog is nothing but a ground squirrel and was first seen in North America. They are herbivorous borrowings rodents and are name ‘dog’ because of their warning call. Their warning call is similar to a dog’s bark, hence the name Prairie Dogs.
This name was in use from the early of 1774 and was discover by Lewis and Clark in September 1804. There was a note in the journals that state: “Lewis and Clark discover a Village of an animal the French Call the Prairie Dog.”
Even its scientific name, Cynomys has the origination from a Greek word that means “dog mouse.
Appearance
The physical appearance of this animal is undoubtedly cute. They are the furry animals, yes! The height goes up to 4 inches, and weight stays around one to three pounds.
The mesmerizing characteristics of it will blow your mind; Prairie Dogs have black eyes, brown fur and short limbs with claws. As I said above, they aren’t dogs! They are classify into the same taxonomic group as squirrels and chipmunks.
Their species are divide according to the tail color. So it gets easy to know which kind of prairie is in front of you. Right now, there are five different species of this barking squirrel, such as black-tailed prairie dogs, white-tailed prairie dogs, Utah, Gunnison’s and Mexican.
Personality Traits
Prairies are social animals (not human, in a literal way!). They always live in a group, or you can say, family. They do have a FOMO (fear of missing out). If you aren’t able to spend time for a couple of hours a day, I would suggest you get a clan or else, stop thinking about having them.
They can get depressed or even sick if left alone. They are really amazing pets, no, no… Wait I will re-frame the sentence ‘they are really intelligent pets.’ yes! Now perfect. Though small and tiny pets they can be trained easily.
You may get surprised, but they can be trained to come to you on calling them with the name given. They are mostly active during the day time. They have a very organized way of defending their homes.
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