What are Prairie Dogs?  Come have some fun and find out!  Turtleback Zoo invites you to explore our exciting interactive exhibit.  In our live “Prairie Dog Hill” your child can scurry below in underground tunnels and pop-up from burrows right next to our active furry black-tailed friends.

Prairie Dogs are actually ground dwelling squirrels that make a “dog-like” barking sound when alarmed.  Bobbing up and down in excitement, these fast moving, 3 pound squirrels bark out warning calls from their burrows to other colony members that can number into the thousands!   

One community of sociable “dogs” took over an area that spanned hundreds of acres.  For a species of small, grass eating squirrels, that is some real estate development!