In the west, prairie dogs used to be abundant in thousands of "prairie dog towns" that often spanned hundreds of acres and housed huge numbers of prairie dog inhabitants.

Most towns were destroyed as the prairie dogs were considered pests and exterminated. One such town does remain next to Mackenzie Park in Lubbock. The town is basically a large dirt field. It is fenced off with an approx. 2ft. high concrete wall and you can see the burrows of prairie dogs and see them running around. A sign stands in the middle which reads: "Prairie Dog Town, Population ?, Keep Out."