Utah Prairie Dog
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40 free Utah Prairie Dog trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Utah prairie dog is one of the rarest rodents in the United States, a burrowing animal with a tiny range and an outsized reputation. Ranchers, biologists, park rangers and constitutional lawyers have all had reason to argue about it. This quiz turns the best fun facts about the species into multiple-choice questions. It covers what the animal looks like and how it is related to other prairie dogs, how its colonies and family groups are organized, what it eats and what eats it, how it breeds, and how it gets through the seasons. A later stretch follows the conservation story, from the population crash of the last century to the courtroom dispute that made national news. The questions suit wildlife fans, students working on a species report, and anyone planning a trip to see the animals in the wild. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you will leave knowing more than when you started.
30 of 40 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Utah prairie dogs in the same family greet each other with which gesture, withheld from outsiders?
Kissing
Kissing, a quick touch of mouths, is how prairie dogs in one family group interact; they also groom each other but never do either with animals from other groups.
Q 02The Utah prairie dog is a rodent, so which trait earned prairie dogs the canine half of their name?
Their bark-like call
Their bark-like call is a warning that sounds like a dog's bark. The name was in use by 1774, and one early traveler likened the animals' yelp to that of a little toy dog.
Q 03Which national park holds an annual Utah Prairie Dog Day with ranger-led viewing of its colonies?
Bryce Canyon
Bryce Canyon brought Utah prairie dogs back through a reintroduction program, and visitors can watch them in the meadows along the road near the visitor center.
Q 04Despite the canine name, the burrowing Utah prairie dog belongs to which group of rodents?
Ground squirrels
Ground squirrels are the group that includes prairie dogs, marmots and chipmunks. All sit in the same family as tree-dwelling species, though prairie dogs nest below ground.
Q 05Which disease, also dangerous to people, can kill nearly every animal in a Utah prairie dog colony?
Plague
Plague in wildlife is called sylvatic plague, and it comes from the same bacterium that causes bubonic plague in people. Outbreaks can kill close to 100% of a colony.
Q 06Of the five prairie dog species, the Utah prairie dog, about a foot long, holds which size record?
The smallest
The smallest prairie dog, the Utah species tops out at about 3 pounds, with males roughly a quarter bigger than females.
Q 07Unlike black-tailed prairie dogs, how do Utah prairie dogs get through long plateau winters?
They hibernate
They hibernate, as do the other prairie dogs with short pale-tipped tails. The two species with long dark-tipped tails stay active all winter.
Q 08A 2013 lawsuit said a noisy Utah prairie dog interrupted which kind of gathering in Cedar City?
A funeral
A funeral was disrupted by a prairie dog scampering around the service and making a racket, the city claimed. The complaint said burrows were also damaging grave sites.
Q 09Because Utah prairie dogs aerate soil and feed many predators, ecologists give them which label?
Keystone species
Keystone species hold an ecosystem together: without Utah prairie dogs the meadows would change drastically, since rabbits and other animals shelter in the tunnels they dig.
Q 10Which eradication method, pushed by control programs from the 1920s, devastated Utah prairie dogs?
Poisoning
Poisoning campaigns, with unregulated shooting and disease, shrank the species' range by roughly 90% in a century. Farmers targeted the animals for eating crops.
Q 11The Utah prairie dog, found nowhere else on Earth, survives only in which corner of Utah?
Southwest
Southwest Utah is the species' entire range, spread across seven counties; in 1920 it reached as far north as Nephi.
Q 12A Utah prairie dog colony, split into family territories riddled with burrows, goes by which name?
A town
A town can hold many family territories, each with burrows 3 to 6 feet deep and several exits for a quick escape.
Q 13Which landmark US law makes it illegal to hunt the federally protected Utah prairie dog?
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act covers the Utah prairie dog, so it may not be hunted, although Utah's two other prairie dog species can be.
Q 21Which federal agency manages the Utah prairie dog's protected listing and writes its recovery plans?
Fish and Wildlife Service
The Fish and Wildlife Service has listed the Utah prairie dog since 1973, and in 2013 Cedar City landowners took the agency to court over the rules.
Q 22Landowners suing over Utah prairie dog rules in 2013 named their group to parody which organization?
PETA
PETA inspired the name People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners, a group that said protected colonies were ruining yards, sports fields and building plans.
Q 23In 1984 officials eased the Utah prairie dog's federal status from the top tier to which category?
Threatened
Q 14Which parasites spread deadly disease among Utah prairie dogs, a reason visitors should keep back?
Fleas
Fleas carry the bacterium Yersinia pestis between animals, so dusting burrows with pesticide is the main way wildlife managers protect colonies.
Q 15Which dark facial marking sets the Utah prairie dog apart from the other four prairie dog species?
Black eyebrows
Black eyebrows, a short dark stripe above each eye, mark the Utah prairie dog; the rest of the face has brown cheeks and a pale chin.
Q 16Utah prairie dogs seen standing upright on their hind legs beside a burrow are doing which job?
Keeping lookout
Keeping lookout is a shared duty in a colony. When a sentry spots danger it sounds a warning, and intruders may even be chased away.
Q 17Utah prairie dogs leave their burrows to feed and socialize during which part of the daily cycle?
Daytime
Daytime is when Utah prairie dogs are above ground, foraging from dawn to dusk. Sunny summer days are the best time to see them.
Q 18Researchers decoding prairie dog alarm signals found they can describe which feature of a predator?
Its color
Its color, along with type, size and shape, is coded into the sounds, a finding from decades of recording work by biologist Con Slobodchikoff.
Q 19Which venomous snakes can slip into Utah prairie dog burrows, turning a refuge into a trap?
Rattlesnakes
Rattlesnakes are small enough to enter the tunnels, which is why burrows have many exits. Against coyotes and birds of prey the same tunnels are a safe retreat.
Q 20Which stocky digging carnivores are top predators of Utah prairie dogs, even inside their tunnels?
Badgers
Badgers top the list of the species' natural predators, yet in well-established colonies predators make little dent in overall numbers.
Threatened status came with a special rule that let landowners remove a set number of animals each year, at first up to 5,000 on certain lands.
Q 24Black-tailed prairie dog families are coteries; which word names a Utah prairie dog family group?
Clan
Clan is the term, and a typical one has a dominant male, several females and their young of the past two years. Coteries are thought to be more tightly knit.
Q 25Which prairie dog, found mainly in Wyoming and Colorado, is the Utah prairie dog's closest relative?
White-tailed
The white-tailed prairie dog and the Utah species may once have been a single interbreeding population, later split apart by physical and ecological barriers.
Q 26Federal biologists describe the Utah prairie dog's coat as which spice shade, mixed with buff hairs?
Cinnamon
Cinnamon to clay is the usual range, and soil-matched fur matters: the animals favor ground whose shade helps hide them from predators.
Q 27The Utah prairie dog's genus name, Cynomys, was built from Greek words with which literal meaning?
Dog mouse
Dog mouse is the translation, from the Greek for each animal. The species name parvidens was added by zoologist J. A. Allen in 1905.
Q 28From 1972, how did Utah wildlife officers deal with Utah prairie dogs trapped on private farmland?
Relocating them
Relocating them began as a state transplant program in 1972; trapped animals are released on public land or on land protected under a federal agreement.
Q 29From about 95,000 in the 1920s, Utah prairie dog numbers fell to roughly what figure by the 1970s?
3,000
3,000 animals were all that remained, a loss of about 97%, and the risk of extinction earned the species federal protection in 1973.
Q 30A female Utah prairie dog can conceive during roughly how much of each spring's breeding season?
A few hours
A few hours on a single day is the whole window, yet about 97% of adult females still produce a litter each year.