Cactus Flats, South Dakota: Giant Concrete Prairie Dog

Twelve feet of paint-chipped, weather-worn, prairie-dog-resembling cement glory, next to a prairie dog town and the Ranch Store gift shop.

Giant Concrete Prairie Dog

The Giant Concrete Prairie Dog is located near the town of Interior, between I-90 and the entrance to the Badlands National Parks. The giant prairie dog stands sentinel for a colony of very obese hand-fed prairie dogs located outside of The Ranch Store. You can purchase peanuts inside the store and feed them to the prairie dogs, which have taken up residence in a field just beyond the parking lot. There was even an albino prairie dog running around the colony on the day we visited.

The WL Prairie Dog was a "must see" attraction for me while in South Dakota, after learning of the wholesale slaughter of these cute little buggers expertly documented in Ken Smith's book Raw Deal.

[Greg Brown, 10/21/2001]

Giant Concrete Prairie Dog

Back in the sixties my family traveled across the country from PA to CA and saw funny "Burma Shave type" signs advertising for miles before we arrived at the The Ranch Store. Back then they had a rattlesnake farm and a ten foot high prairie dog made of concrete. Anybody know where it was or is?

[Patricia Cunneen, 06/06/1999]

World's Largest Prairie Dog

Located (I think) off of Route 240 on the way out of the Badlands National Park in South Dakota, just a stone's throw from Wall Drug. Some buddies and I stopped to marvel at this concrete wonder of modern engineering: twelve feet of paint-chipped, weather-worn, prairie-dog-resembling (in a limited sort of a way) glory! We noticed that the artist carved his name at the base of the statue. It read: Harold Zundel, Mitchell, South Dakota, 1951.

[Mark Newlon, 12/11/1997]