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Species authority page

White-tailed prairie dog

Cynomys leucurus · Squirrels · Small game

White-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys leucurus): Gray to yellowish-brown upper body with dark cheek patches / dark patches above and below each eye. Whitish to grayish tip on the short tail. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and dateOpen the white-tailed prairie dog map

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Cynomys leucurus
Family
Sciuridae
In North America
Native
Range
From the Bighorn Basin in southern Montana across central and southwestern Wyoming into western and north-central Colorado and eastern Utah.
Biology

How to identify it

Gray to yellowish-brown upper body with dark cheek patches / dark patches above and below each eye. [1][2]

Whitish to grayish tip on the short tail. [1][2]

Head and body 342-399 mm in males, 315-375 mm in females. [1][2]

Usually at higher elevation than black-tailed prairie dogs. [1][2]

Compared with the black-tailed prairie dog: Black-tipped tail and a lower-elevation, grassland habitat. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a white-tailed prairie dog before you act. Compared with the black-tailed prairie dog: Black-tipped tail and a lower-elevation, grassland habitat.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Open shrublands, semidesert grasslands and open valleys at 5,000-10,000 ft; sage is important cover. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Loosely colonial; alarm 'repetitious bark', 'laughing bark' for group cohesion, snarl and growl [1][2]

Feeds mainly on forbs and grasses [1][2]

Hibernates; emerges from late February-March, males 2-3 weeks before females; by late August all adults are inactive [1][2]

Morning and late-afternoon activity in summer [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Where it is listed for legal take

These authorities list this species for legal take in their own regulations.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

From the Bighorn Basin in southern Montana across central and southwestern Wyoming into western and north-central Colorado and eastern Utah.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology