Where is the prairie dog legal?

Any of the following from any area outside the state of Alabama; ...species of raccoon, species of skunk, wild rodent, or strain of wild turkey

A prairie dog is a wild rodent on any reading of the phrase, and one brought into Alabama comes from outside the state by definition.

How this rule works: A prohibited list rather than a permitted one, last amended October 2024. Two clauses do most of the work for pet keepers: everything the federal government lists as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act is banned by reference, and a group of species is banned specifically when it comes from outside Alabama.

The department may not issue a permit for the capture, possession, import, or export of any game animal... for use as a pet

Not on the clean list.

How this rule works: The strictest structure in the country and the clearest. Subsection (a) bars possessing live game without a permit, (b) is a short clean list of species needing no permit, and (c) then removes the escape hatch: the department may not issue a permit for any game animal for use as a pet. So an animal missing from the clean list cannot be kept, permit or not.

How this rule works: § 671(b) defines (D) detrimental and (W) welfare. § 671.1(a) lists permit types; none covers pet keeping. The only possession permit, Animal Care, requires lawful possession in California before January 1992.

wild rodents

Delaware's exotic animal rules reach live wild mammals and their hybrids, and wild rodents are named. A permit exists in principle for exotic animals, but not for pet keeping.

How this rule works: An exotic animal is 'ecologically foreign to Delaware, but allowed for possession, sale, and exhibition if a permit has been issued by the Department', covering live wild mammals, hybrids of wild mammals, and live reptiles not native to the state. A prohibited sublist sits on top, barred to everyone outside parks, zoos, aquariums, museums and research facilities. Administered by the State Veterinarian.

A rodent, but not a domesticated one.

How this rule works: Closed list. Seven permitted categories; everything else is barred as a household pet.

Prairie dog (Cynomys spp.);

How this rule works: Three lists. Section 4(1) is prohibited species, injurious to native ecosystems. Section 4(2) is inherently dangerous exotic wildlife. Section 7 is the permit-exempt list. Anything on none of the three may be possessed, but a transportation permit is needed to bring it into the state. KRS 65.877, cited in the regulation itself, lets local governments prohibit inherently dangerous wildlife outright.

It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to retain any wild birds or wild mammals (as defined in Nebraska revised statute 37-245 and 37-246) in captivity except the following species may be kept under authority of a Captive Wildlife Permit

Cynomys is a Nebraska wild mammal and is absent from the list that follows, which runs from badger to long-tailed weasel. It is also absent from the importation list.

How this rule works: Browse to Game and Parks Commission, Title 166 Wildlife Regulations, Chapter 8. Two lists that must not be conflated. § 001.01B lists the native wild birds and mammals that may be held under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.08A is a separate closed list of wildlife that may be imported into the state, and a non-native animal missing from it cannot lawfully be brought in.

5 Prairie Dog Cynamys, spp.

Exhibitor only. New Hampshire is one of the stricter states on prairie dogs.

How this rule works: Fis 804.02 is the non-controlled possession list, needing no permit. Fis 804.05 is the controlled table, and the number beside each species is the permittee category allowed to hold it. Category 1 is an individual, category 5 is an exhibitor, so a species marked 5 alone cannot be kept by a private person at all.

All large rodents (Rodentia), including ... prairie dog, capybara

How this rule works: § 161.01 is the list of animals that may not be kept in the five boroughs. It binds regardless of what New York State allows, which is why the city and the state answer differently for several species.

Absent from the unregulated list, so it falls back to licensing. Colorado has native prairie dogs, which is likely why.

How this rule works: 'No license is required for the private possession or purchase of animals, which are included on the unregulated wildlife list or the domestic animal list.' Unregulated does not mean unmonitored: importation rules and local ordinances still apply.

Cynomys is not among the excepted rodent genera.

Prairie Dogs (Cynomys).

How this rule works: Section 100.01 bars possession of a deleterious exotic animal without a possession permit from the Administrator. Sections 401 to 412 are the list itself, by taxon.

Absent from the exemption list, so a permit is required.

How this rule works: A closed exemption list of wild vertebrates that may be imported, sold or possessed without a permit. Anything not exempt needs one. Criteria include no significant ecological risk if released and care no more demanding than a common domesticated pet.

Class I wildlife shall include birds (including ring-necked pheasants and gray partridge) native to the continental United States, and those species of mammals (except bison and those listed in 3 CSR 10-9.240 and 3 CSR 10-9.250) and nonvenomous reptiles and amphibians native to Missouri.

The black-tailed prairie dog is native to Missouri, which puts it in Class I. Permits are issued only for species on the Approved Confined Wildlife Species List in 3 CSR 10-9.105.

How this rule works: Class I is native Missouri mammals, reptiles and amphibians plus birds native to the continental United States. Class II is the venomous natives, mountain lion, wolf and black bear. Class III is cervids. An animal that is none of these is outside the Wildlife Code entirely.

The following wildlife species are exempt from import and export permits, commercial wildlife breeders licenses, noncommercial wildlife breeders licenses and commercial hunting area license requirements

Native to Oklahoma and absent from the exemption list. The department has a dedicated subchapter on black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs.

How this rule works: Navigate to Title 800, Chapter 25, Subchapter 25, Section 800:25-25-3. One of the most permissive exemption lists in the country, and one of the very few that names the fennec fox individually. Note what the exemptions are from: permits and breeder licences, not a ban. An unexempt animal is licensable, not prohibited.

no person shall be allowed to import, or possess any animals defined as exotic wild animals or native wild animals without first obtaining a permit from the Department

Absent from the § 3.17 exempt mammal list.

How this rule works: One of the most species-specific schemes in the country. § 3.6 defines domestic animals, § 3.7 sets general prohibitions, § 3.9 governs permits, and § 3.17 is the long exempt list of animals that need no exotic animal possession permit. Anything not domestic, not native and not on the § 3.17 list needs a permit.

Sciuridae Cynomys spp. Prairie dogs

Listed by genus in the squirrel family section of the permit table, so every prairie dog species is covered.

How this rule works: Virginia permits by table. Subsection A requires a special permit from the department for every animal listed in it, on the ground that the board has declared the species predatory or undesirable because releasing it would harm Virginia's native fish and wildlife. Subsection B grandfathers asterisked animals held before 1 July 1992 if they were declared in writing by 1 January 1993, renewable every five years and not transferable. Subsection C then carves the monk parakeet back out.

A permit may be authorized upon approval for other warm-blooded wildlife unless otherwise specified in this regulation.

Native to Wyoming. Section 14 allows possession without a permit of mammals declared pests if they were captured in the state, but importation of those same animals is barred.

How this rule works: Two closed lists do the work. Domestic animals and domesticated animals are both defined by enumeration, with the phrase for the purpose of this regulation, only the following animals are considered domestic. Anything on neither list is wildlife, and Section 13(d) leaves it to a permit that may be authorised upon approval.

The family Sciuridae. Common names include: chipmunks, marmots, prairie dogs, squirrels, and woodchucks.

How this rule works: Restricted wildlife requires the applicable federal licences and permits, an appropriate special licence, or a lawful exemption.

On neither list, same as the capybara.

How this rule works: Two lists: 503.110 prohibits, 503.140 names species that may be possessed, transported, imported and exported without a permit. Nevada counties and cities are frequently stricter than the state, notably Clark County, Henderson and Las Vegas.

Native to New Mexico and possibly a furbearer or species of concern, either of which would put it in Group IV, but the list was not read.

How this rule works: Four groups. Group I is semi-domesticated and needs no importation permit; Group IV is 'dangerous, invasive, undesirable, state or federal listed threatened, endangered, a furbearer or any other species of concern' and is barred to the general public, allowed only for scientific study, restoration, zoological display, temporary events, service animals or qualified experts. The operative default: 'Any species of live non-domesticated animal not currently on the species importation list will be designated group IV until such time as another determination is made by the director.' The group assignments themselves live in a separate Director's Species Importation List, roughly 27 pages, which I could not obtain.

"Nontraditional livestock" means any wildlife held in a cage, fence, enclosure, or other manmade means of confinement that limits its movement within definite boundaries

Native to North Dakota and plainly wildlife held in confinement, so it falls inside the definition even though no rule currently attaches a licence to it.

How this rule works: The chapter names only three restrictions relevant to pets: skunks and raccoons may not be kept at all, mountain lions and wolves need a tattooed identification number, and the board is to make rules on primates. § 36-01-08.1 says the board may require a licence for nontraditional livestock, meaning any wildlife held in confinement, but the wording is permissive.

the Commissioner shall not issue a permit for the keeping or possession of any wild animal in captivity

Vermont bars bringing in, transporting or possessing any live wild bird or animal without authorisation, and the regulation then says the Commissioner shall not issue a permit for keeping a wild animal in captivity. Whether a captive bred prairie dog counts as a wild animal for that purpose is not settled in the text, which is why this reads unclear rather than banned.

How this rule works: Closed list. § 4709 bars bringing in, transporting or possessing any live wild bird or animal without authorisation. Reg 881: 'the Commissioner shall not issue a permit for the keeping or possession of any wild animal in captivity, except for bona fide scientific or educational purposes' unless the species is designated domestic, a domestic pet, or unrestricted. The Unrestricted Wild Animals List is maintained separately on the department website and was not obtainable.