[Taxacom] Of pastures and prairie dogs

[Ken Kinman]

Thanks Monique,
      And I've added a couple of additional weblinks below.  The 
black-tailed prairie dog was a "candidate" for protection under the 
Endangered Species Act, but was removed from that list in 2004.  Not likely 
it will again become a candidate species during the current administration, 
much less get listed for federal protection.
     Plague is a relative minor problem even in Colorado (people skinning 
prairie dogs, or people and their pets playing in prairie dog towns), and 
besides most of the cases involve other rodent species.  I don't think it 
would even be a serious consideration in Kansas from any rodent species at 
all, much less prairie dogs.

      As for prairie dogs competing with cattle for food, the small 
reductions of 4-7% (in quantity) reported in the scientific literature are 
probably more than offset by the more nutritious (higher quality) forage the 
prairie dogs induce.  This may not be very apparent, especially in drought 
conditions, but one must really wonder which are more destructive under 
drought conditions---prairie dogs or cattle (although ranchers aren't likely 
to place blame on their own cattle).

     But the main issue is the use of poison which can be directly consumed 
by other species (or indirectly through the food chain).  Therefore, some 
shooting by hunters (which brings money into the local economy) should 
probably be considered as a short-term solution, at least until a population 
of ferrets can be established to help control the prairie dog population 
naturally.  And by the way, one of the Logan County sites under 
consideration is actually owned by the Nature Conservancy.  But even that 
land is apparently subject to the state "eradication" law, so the county can 
legally poison there and then bill the Nature Conservancy for it.  I would 
think that state law would be struck down if they either invaded Nature 
Conservancy land or that of the conservation-minded ranchers who have tried 
to compromise by performing limited poisoning where their lands abutt the 
lands of the complaining neighboring ranchers.  Between compromise and 
compensation, hopefully agreement can be reached without a court battle that 
would only make the lawyers richer.

http://www.prairiedogs.org/myth.html

http://www.prairiedogcoalition.org/report-pd-people-and-plague.shtml