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The Prairie Dog Project

Research by John Hoogland | Since 1974

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mating behavior

©John Hoogland 2012

Males 29 and 45 have a territorial dispute. Many females have emerged in their area, and they will dispute through the mating season, often fighting. ©MRR 2017

During the mating season, adult males are evidently sexually mature, displaying pigmented testes and a distended scrotum. ©MRR 2017

45 stands over Wetsuit at her burrow, anticipating her estrus. ©MRR 2017

45’s pursuit of Wetsuit is relentless on the day she goes into estrus. ©MRR 2017

45 brings nesting material to a burrow prior to mating with Wetsuit. Though not common, this behavior has been observed in mating males. ©MRR 2017

45 lets out a mating call at the mouth of the burrow where he has chased Wetsuit. The mating call is sounded before and/or after mating, and if not for context can easily be mistaken for an alarm call. ©MRR 2017

45 chases and herds 50 into her burrow. We call this a Chase Herd (scored as CH on a datasheet) and it is one of the most common interactions we track, occurring between males, between females, and males to females, though rarely females to males un

Generally a couple to a few days after mating, females will begin to exhibit maternal behavior, including carrying nesting material to potential nursery burrows. Gestation will last on average 28 days. ©MRR 2017

After mating, 83 licks her vulva. This is one of several aboveground cues that signify a copulation has occurred. ©MRR 2017

Despite this being her day of estrus, 83 is not ready and rebuffs 45 for now. On their day of estrus, females are only receptive for a few hours. ©MRR 2017

24 has a very late wakeup and licks his penis (scored as LP on a datasheet) immediately upon emerging, indicating he spent the morning copulating with a female. ©MRR 2017

Having already mated with her, 24 tries to keep 6 Stripe underground, chasing and herding her into her burrow to keep her away from other males in the area. ©MRR 2017

After a male has had his Critical Underground Consortship (CUC) with a female (in which insemination occurs and which is characterized by disappearing underground together for many minutes up to hours), he usually does not go down with her for anoth

24 will relentlessly chase 6 Stripe to keep her away from other males. ©MRR 2017

R21 chases 49 out of his territory on a day when 5SRS, a female in the area, goes into estrus. ©MRR 2017

Some time after his first check, 2 comes back for another sniff at Wide Apart. ©MRR 2017

Male 36 investigates female 90. Gunnison’s prairie dogs exhibit sexual dimorphism in body mass, and here you can see how much larger 36 is than 90. ©MRR 2017

36 continues to pursue 90 to check for estrus, and she continues to elude him. ©MRR 2017

RR0, a female who has already mated, brings nesting material to her burrow as she begins to show maternal nesting behaviors. ©MRR 2017

A female runs away from a male trying to sniff her. ©MRR 2017

Female 4 Stripe licks her vulva on her day of estrus. ©MRR 2017

Female 55 runs from male 36 as he pursues her. ©MRR 2017

A mating call from male R21. ©MRR 2017

Another mating call from R21. ©MRR 2017

Male 2 comes up behind female Wide Apart to check her for estrus. ©MRR 2017

Licking after copulation. ©MRR 2017

©John Hoogland 2009

©John Hoogland 2009

©John Hoogland 2009

©John Hoogland 2012

©John Hoogland 2009

©John Hoogland 2009

©John Hoogland 2009

©John Hoogland 2009

©John Hoogland 2009

©John Hoogland 2009

©John Hoogland 2009

©John Hoogland 2009

©John Hoogland 2009

©John Hoogland 2010

©John Hoogland 2010

©John Hoogland 2012

©John Hoogland 2012

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