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Prairie Dogs

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Prairie Dogs
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 5 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	5.73

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		all-time, black-tailed, coterie, sewage, unsavory, white-tailed, entrances, billion, passion, greeting, network, rushes, captivity, extremely, leads, recovery
	content words:		Central Americas

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Prairie Dogs By Vickie Chao

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¹     Squirrels come in many shapes and sizes. Most have the word "squirrel" in their names to give away their identities. But others do not. Prairie dogs, for example, are squirrels with misleading names.
 
²     Scientists have found five types of prairie dogs on Earth. Four of them live in Canada and the U.S., and one in Mexico. The five types are the black-tailed prairie dog, the white-tailed prairie dog, the Gunnison's prairie dog, the Utah prairie dog, and the Mexican prairie dog.
 
³     Prairie dogs are small and stocky. They weigh up to 4 pounds. They have broad heads, chubby bodies, short legs, and sharp claws. All year round, they wear outfits with short, coarse hairs. The colors of those hairs are different shades of brown, ranging from yellowish to reddish. Prairie dogs are usually active during the day. They spend many of their waking hours searching for food. For the most part, they are vegetarians. They eat a lot of plant matter, like grasses, weeds, roots, and flowers. They sometimes eat insects, too.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
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