The Struggle With Prairie Dogs
The most recent articles written by the Durango Herald. Plague or boon is nothing new to the life cycle of the prairie dog. The prairie dog has been studied at length. They are “cute little rodents” whose colonies are called towns. They actually have a language that distinguishes “enemies” from “friends”, and they actually have a form of kissing to show affection.
Prairie dogs are also voracious pests. Five of them will eat the equivalent of a bale of hay a day and will quickly destroy a pasture. The holes they create are a tremendous hazard for horses and cattle as these holes can cause injuries.
We have dealt with too many prairie dogs to count. Our “search and destroy” missions have included pumping 50 gallons a minute to flood the holes, as well as purchasing gas bombs from the USDA by the hundreds. We finally called in an exterminator to do his annual “prairie dog removal mission”.
Ironically, all it will take is the arrival of the Bubonic plague and most, if not all of these rodents will be gone. We have many different viruses that exist as a result of the animals around us including West Nile, Hantavirus, and the Bubonic plague.The word plague, is derived from the Latin word plaga, meaning “infection from pestilence”. Now they have a vaccine to prevent the prairie dog from getting the plague. If we lose the natural life/death cycle, what will keep this rodent in check – the black footed ferret that some people hope is on the comeback?
Prairie dogs, according to statistics, occupy 5% of the land in Colorado and are a keystone species, meaning over 50 other species depend on prairie dog activity to survive.
Prairie dogs are food for coyotes, foxes, and raptors. Some solutions to getting rid of them include putting up blinds in the field for a fox to hide behind, setting up raptor poles for the birds to hunt from or keeping the pasture grasses tall so natural predators can hide and pounce.
While some things are best left to follow the natural order of things, in the interim I will continue the struggle to cover up prairie dog holes and work hard to get my pasture to grow back!
