Prairie Dog Yips May Be Gossip

Prairie dogs, those little pups popping in and out of holes on vacant lots and rural rangeland, are talking up a storm.

They have different “words” for tall human in yellow shirt, short human in green shirt, coyote, deer, red-tailed hawk and many other creatures.

They can even coin new terms for things they’ve never seen before, independently coming up with the same calls or words, according to biologist Con Slobodchikoff of Northern Arizona University. “So far, I think we are showing the most sophisticated communication system that anyone has shown in animals,” Slobodchikoff said.

Prairie dog chatter is a series of yips, high-pitched barks and eeks. Most scientists think they simply make sounds that reflect their inner condition. That means all they are saying are things like “ouch” or “hungry” or “eek.”

But Slobodchikoff contends prairie dogs are communicating detailed information to one another about what animals are showing up in their colonies, and maybe even gossiping.

He and his students record the calls prairie dogs make as they see hawks, elk, different people and dogs of different sizes and with different coat colors. They use a computer to dissect the underlying structure and creates a sonogram, or visual representation of the sound. Computer analysis later identifies the similarities and differences. So far, he has recorded at least 20 different “words.”