TESF manages prairie dogs on several Turner properties to provide habitat for the endangered black-footed ferret. Prairie dogs also complement Turner’s bison herds as these species have co-evolved over thousands of years and constitute a grazing association: bison preferentially graze along the edges of prairie dog colonies because of the availability of high-quality forage and tend to rest within colonies. Bison that graze prairie dog colonies have been shown to gain more weight compared to those that feed in off-colony grasslands. Reciprocally, bison benefit prairie dogs by increasing nutrient quality of vegetation through their grazing and deposition of dung and urine, and their grazing lowers vegetation height, helping prairie dogs to detect predators. We are proud to advance the future for prairie dogs, one the world’s greatest underdogs.
