The Prairie Landscape: The prairies stretch for about 1,800 miles from southern Canada to southern Texas, and from the Mississippi river west to the Rocky Mountains. The rich and fertile soil of the prairie once supported vast areas of rolling grassland but now used primarily for ranching.  Types of grasses making up the prairie landscape change from area to area. The tall grasses of the eastern area are switch of panic grass, big blue stem, and slough grass. These grasses grow three inches to one foot high in meadows dotted with an occasional tree such as oak. 

Farther west, there are fewer trees and the tall grasses are mixed with short short grasses such as little blue stem. In Texas, species of setaria grass flourish. In Texas's warm climate, there may e as many as 200 species of flowering plants growing in 600 acres of prairie while further north the same space many only support 50 species. Trees and shrubs are scarce on the prairies, but a variety of low growing and flowering plants are abundant.

Animal Life of the Prairies: Many of the prairies larger animals have been replaced by grazing domestic herds. Still, the prairies support many varied species. The pronghorn was once found in as large a number as the bison was. It now lives primarily in protected prairie reserves. The prairie dog lives underground in a network of tunnels and chambers, coming out furing the day to feed. It many predators include the coyote, the black footed ferret, the fox, ad the golden eagle.

The most common prairie animal, Richardson's ground squirrel;, has adapted well to heavily grazed areas. Wide spread, too, are the prairie vole, the plains pocket gopher, muskrat, both the black and the white tailed jack rabbit, and the prairie rattlesnake.

Prairie Birdlike: Because of widespread habitat damage due to hugh herds of grazing cattle, typical prairie birds such as the greater prairie chicken and the masked bobwhite are declining in number. Still, many birds such as the lark bunting and the bobolink thrive on the heavily cultivated land of the prairie, as do larger birds like the golden eagle, the red tailed hawk, and the prairie falcon. They pray on small birds, insects, and small mammals.

Key Facts:
The Bison, A symbol of the Prairies: Numbering about 60 million in the eighteenth century, by the 1900's the bison population has been hinted down to about 1,000. The plains Indians who relied on bison meat and skins for every necessity of life killed relatively few animals and did not impact the bison's survivals. But the coming of settlers meant that millions of bison were killed for sport and food.  Twentieth century breeding and protection efforts have brought the bison's numbers back up to about 50,000.

Climate: Because the prairies are so vast. the climate can be extreme. In summer, conditions are similar to those of the hot African grasslands, while chill winds, frost, and drifting snow are usually winter weather. On the Canadian prairies, for example, there may be a 120 degree different between summer and winter temperatures. Little rain and strong winds are major factors of the prairies factors of the prairies landscape. Winds promote evaporation, which reduces humidity, essential for trees. High winds also weaken saplings and prevent them from competing with low growing vegetation, such as grasses that are anchored by deep roots. In the 1930's, the prairie weather became increasingly hot and dry and much of the tall grass died, forcing animals to travel long distances to find food.

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