Wild Mammals of South Dakota

In September of 1804, as the Lewis and Clark party traveled across the present boundary separating Nebraska and South Dakota, they encountered small, burrowing animals previously unknown to science. They were called "petite chien" or little dogs, a species known today as the black-tailed prairie dog. Fascinated by these "barking squirrels" and their vast "villages", Lewis and Clark recorded detailed descriptions of their behavior and locations, describing a colony about the mouth of the White River as apparently infinite in number. Nearly 200 years later, the fate of this controversial species is unclear. Threatened by habitat conversion, poisoning, and disease, the future of the prairie dog and species dependent on this ecosystem hangs in the balance. The black-tailed prairie dog is one of the 95 species described in Wild Mammals of South Dakota. This reference will serve anyone interested in South Dakota's mammals from the amateur naturalist to the experienced biologist.