Definition of "prairie dog" [prairie dog]

• Any of several burrowing rodents of the genus Cynomys in the squirrel family, having light brown fur and a warning call that sounds similar to a dog's bark. The prairie dog lives in large colonies, chiefly in the Great Plains of North America. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Say you have eighteen white-footed ferrets, with a balanced sex ratio, but the prairie dog colony on which they depend for food and shelter is being killed off by a virus."