40 RODENTS OF IOWA 



BLACK-TAILED PRAIRIE-DOG. PRAIRIE-DOG. 



Cynomys ludovicianus ludovicianus (Orel). 



Arctomys ludoviciana Orel, Guthrie's Geogr., 2cl Amer. ed., II, 

 292, 302, 1815. 



Bescription. — Summer: AboA^e reddish brown, varied with 

 gray and black hairs; upper lip, sides of nose and eye ring buffy 

 white ; cheeks and sides of head buffy with blackish hairs ; feet 

 buffy; tail above like back, the apical third black or blackish 

 brown above and below ; under parts of body from chin to near 

 tail white or buffy white. Winter: Pelage much thicker, longer 

 and softer than in summer; above, grayish cinnamon with numer- 

 ous intermingled black hairs ; tail as in summer ; under parts 

 pale buff or cinnamon, the hairs black at bases. 



Measurements. — Total length, 15.57 inches; tail vertebrae, 3.50 

 inches; hind foot, 2.57 inches. 



Owing to the fact that both sunnner and winter coats fade and 

 wear, the variations in color are \ery great. All prairie-dogs 

 but one species have two molts annually; these molts are entire 

 except on the tail where there is but a single yearly renewal ; as 

 a result, specimens may be found in all stages of intergradation 

 depending somewhat upon the season. 



The prairie-dog is one of the true ground squirrels or spermo- 

 philes and the appellation "dog" is not strictly in accordance 

 with science. However, owing to the very general usage of the 

 word in connection with this animal a substitute would perhaps 

 be out of place. 



Habits, Distribution, Etc. — Although the prairie-dog appears 

 to have made but little headway in increasing its range in Iowa, 

 and although it is present in only a few restricted localities along 

 our western border, it will bear watching and any further spread 

 of the species should at once be combated. Sometimes it is prac- 

 tically omnivorous, feeding upon grasses, roots, stems, and leaves 

 of green plants. Without doubt it is responsible, in western local- 

 ities, for great damage to grain and pastures ; and in some places 

 practically the entire forage crop would be lost unless preventive 

 measures were taken. Of course in many localities the "towns" 

 occupy waste places and in such instances they do not interfere 

 with man. In their natural habitat, the Great Plains and Rocky 

 Mountain regions of the United States, these animals are gre- 



