Black-tailed prairie dogs, Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA 10 Nov 2025

Black-tailed prairie dogs, Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA

If you think small creatures can"t make a big impact, you clearly haven"t met the residents of Roberts Prairie Dog Town in Badlands National Park, in South Dakota, United States. These black-tailed prairie dogs are tiny, furry and endlessly entertaining. The town is one of the park"s largest prairie dog colonies, where hundreds of these social rodents scurry, dig and "bark" at passing visitors. Each prairie dog has a role—lookouts scan for predators while others maintain intricate burrow systems that can stretch up to 10 metres in length.

© Greg Vaughn/Getty Images

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Today in History

Lighting up the Badlands
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