Feeding Prairie Dogs At Badlands Ranch Store In Philip, SD

To start this post off right, let me note that as a general rule (and in places like the National Parks it’s against the law) that you shouldn’t feed the wildlife – even the little wildlife like squirrels, chipmunks, and prairie dogs.

This is especially crucial when you’re around large wildlife like bison or bears where they can be euthanized if they become too acclimated to humans – “a fed bear is a dead bear” and it can be very dangerous for you too. All that being said, if I’m in a place where the norm is that feeding the wildlife is allowed or even encouraged, like at the Badlands Ranch Store in South Dakota, I’m all in! Sell me all the food!

Now that we have that disclaimer out of the way, if you’re still interested in feeding prairie dogs in South Dakota here’s all the details. As you drive along I-90 from 1880 Town to Wall Drug (or more likely, to Rapid City or Deadwood), you’ll start to see signs for the “World’s Largest Prairie Dog” and “Feed the Prairie Dogs at the Ranch Store!” We’d not heard of this before seeing the signs, so we had to make a quick decision – was it worth the detour when Wall Drug awaited!?

Spoiler alert: absolutely! Besides, you know we can’t resist a “World’s Largest” anything.

You’ll see the World’s Largest Prairie Dog and the signs for feeding, plus a few of the residents in the prairie dog town before you even pull in to the Badlands Ranch Store. Go into the store and purchase some of the peanuts they have available for the prairie dogs.

I bought 5 bags at $1 a piece and shared one with Stephen – depending on how much time you have this may be too many. Each bag if you’re taking your time will last about 10-15 minutes to get through. Stephen didn’t believe this when it took me 45 minutes with my bags – he just figured I was doing my thing which is being ridiculously slow with feeding and staring at little animals. That is until he got his one bag and didn’t return for 15 minutes.

Here are a few photos and videos for you of the experience. One of the reasons you’re not supposed to feed wildlife is that they can get aggressive and it impairs their natural foraging behaviors. I can confirm that this was not the case with these prairie dogs in my experience. Only 1-2 proactively walked up to anyone around to take nuts from them, most just waited until you were really still for a long time before coming close enough to take a nut from in front of you or from your hand. I only had one prairie dog in 45 minutes take one from my hand. In between nuts they were actively foraging for greens – choosing those over nuts in many cases.

My top tips for a fun prairie dog feeding experience:

1. Stay away from kids – Ok, you may have some with you and that might not be possible, but at least help guide your children that the best way to see the prairie dogs up close is to sit or lay very still and quiet so they will come close. But if you’re an adult there without kids, it’s best to give them space if you want the prairie dogs to come close.
2. Sit or lay down in the dirt – This will help you stay still and relaxed for the prairie dogs to come up to you.
3. Break open the peanuts – As I laid down I quietly broke open the shells on my peanuts to get their attention. It worked better than rustling the bags. They open the shells and just eat the nut anyway, so opening them gave them time to get interested and come closer to grab a nut from you.
4. Be prepared to leave a few nuts on the ground – These little guys eat slowly, grab some grass, lay down in the sun, etc., so if you have more than one bag you might find yourself leaving a few here and there and moving on to more interested prairie dogs nearby.
5. Take off your reflective phone covers – When you’re trying to get their photos or videos the prairie dogs might come close and then they unexpectedly run away. I figured out that my reflective phone case was showing them “another” prairie dog getting closer to them causing them to spook and run off. When I covered my phone case they came much closer.

Remember that pets can’t go into the prairie dog town, so be prepared to have your pet hang out with someone while you feed the prairie dogs.

Don’t forget to pop into the store to grab a snack or fun souvenir of your time at the Badlands Ranch Store.

At the time of writing, prairie dog food was $1 per bag and the Badlands Ranch Store is located at 21190 SD-240, Philip, SD 57567. It’s definitely worth a stop on your way along I-90 in South Dakota to stretch your legs and have some fun.