First they want to save the wolf, now the prairie dog....

[Liberty Belle]

Conservation groups push for protection of black tailed prairie dog
By THE NEW MEXICAN
August 2, 2007

Santa Fe-based Forest Guardians and three other conservation groups are seeking protection for the black-tailed prairie dog under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The groups filed a formal petition this week with U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne for protection of the species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided in 2004 that the black-tailed prairie dog was not a candidate for ESA listing, and Forest Guardians filed a lawsuit over the decision in February. The petition filed this week claims there are flaws in the federal agency's decision.

The black-tailed prairie dog is found in 10 states, including New Mexico, and in Mexico. The animal has been killed off in Arizona.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to reconsider federal protection for two other species of prairie dogs — the Gunnison's prairie dog in the Four Corners area and the white-tailed prairie dog in the Northern Rocky Mountains. The groups say the Bush administration has pressured agency staff not to give endangered species protection to prairie dogs.

In another effort to protect the prairie dog, People for Native Ecosystems is looking for donations to remove prairie dogs from the corner of St. Michael's Drive and Pacheco Street.

Jan Kerr of the organization estimated it will take $30,000 to remove the animals from the area where they are often are hit by cars while the prairie dogs are crossing streets.

She said the landowner, BGK Properties, wants the prairie dogs removed immediately. But because some begin hibernating in August, Kerr said, "we are encouraging BGK to wait until next spring to allow us ... to do a complete removal."

Donations can be send to People for Native Ecosystems, P.O. Box 4973, Santa Fe, NM 87502-4973.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/65922.html

 

[Liberty Belle]

South Dakota uses some common sense when dealing with prairie dogs. If any of you have prairie dog trouble, you better get your name on the list before August 15th.

Prairie dog policy set
By Staff Reports
Argus Leader
July 22, 2007

PIERRE - South Dakota's Game, Fish and Parks and Agriculture Departments are asking ranchers and farmers to report complaints about prairie dogs.

A 2005 prairie dog management plan lays out guidelines and money for ranchers and landowners, the GFP said in a statement. The plan is based on the "good neighbor policy" and has a no-tolerance standard for prairie dogs moving onto lands where they are not wanted.

If a landowner has a complaint regarding prairie dogs invading from public grounds, Game, Fish and Parks must be called at 773-5913 to request control. Once encroachment is verified, GFP field staff or an approved contractor will come in and control the invading colony on the private land.

These calls must be received by Aug. 15 to allow adequate time for scheduling.

If the colony is encroaching from private grounds, a formal complaint must be signed and sent to the S.D. Department of Agriculture and the landowner with the invading colony. Notices of encroachment may be sent throughout the year.

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070722/NEWS/707220331/1001

 

[Mrs.Greg]

Heres a crazy thought,doesn't it make sence to protect the prairie dog so the wolves have something OTHER then the cattle to munch on??? We have cayotes that rarely if ever touch our cattle because they have plenty of gophers to eat. Its still important to not break the circle of life.

 

[kolanuraven]

DUCK and COVER Mrs. Greg.....RUN......... :shock: :shock: :shock: Wrong thing to say!!!! :lol: :lol:


We never had a prob w/ the ' yotes in Nebraska UNTIL all the gopher's mysteriously " disappeared" :shock: :shock: :wink: :wink: , then the 'yotes went to munching on the calves!!

Learned our lesson!

 

[IL Rancher]

lol.. Was thinking the same thing Kola.. Thinking the same thing.. :lol: :lol: :lol:

We don't have prairie dogs, or wolves for that matter, but I do get a chuckle at some folks around here, mostly grain farmers, who yell about coyotes and kill as many as they can catch and than complain about varmints in the grain, or scream about their being no Quail yet plow up every acre of ground in the fall, rip down every fenceline and hedgerow and blast everyone they do see during the season.. Amazing how our place with fence rows, little rowcropping and treelines is filled with critters...

I don't and won't get into the P dogs because I don't have any experience with them and wolves, not so much either...

 

[Jinglebob]

Sorry there Mrs Greg, but wolves don't eat p dogs. Coyotes may get one or two, but mostly rattle snakes.

Thanks but keep your wolves up there, we are getting along fine without them. The coyote and fox would appreciate it too as when the wolves move into this enviroment the fox and coyote have to move on.

And they do make excellent targets.

We have never had a problem with coyotes, fox, badgers, etc. But then I don't shoot at them unless they invade my space in my yard or I see one suffering. I hate to see an animal suffer so I quickly and humanely end it's poor pitiful exsistence.

Once I found a 2 horned unicorn and I put him out of his misery, as I didn't want to spoil the species and I think all the regular unicorn girls were avoiding him anyway.

Someone later told me he was an antelope, but to me, he was a 2 horned unicorn.

As Mike said, that's my story...... :lol:

 

[Mrs.Greg]

Well JB if the wolves we kindly sold you guys won't eat prairie dogs you guys went out and darn well spoiled them.We'll sell you more but PLEASE no more spoiling :? K? 8)

I'm still very serious about the circle of life though. Why would we go out of our way to preserve the natural prairie grasses and wetlands that we do,as ranchers, then make a whole species extinct because they get in our way.

 

[Jinglebob]

Well JB if the wolves we kindly sold you guys won't eat prairie dogs you guys went out and darn well spoiled them.We'll sell you more but PLEASE no more spoiling :? K? 8)

I'm still very serious about the circle of life though. Why would we go out of our way to preserve the natural prairie grasses and wetlands that we do,as ranchers, then make a whole species extinct because they get in our way.

I don't want wolves to be extinct, just keep them up there. Down here the wolves followed and preyed on the buffalo. So now the buff are gone and cows took their place. I don't care to let our animals become wolf food.

If wolves only ate wild life, they would be no problem, but they don't. They kill and eat what ever is handy, as most things do.

If they only ate the deer and p dogs it would be fine, but they will eat my horses and anything else that crosses their paths that they can kill and eat.

Check out wht the re-introduced wolves have been doing down here.

 

[ranch hand]

MRS Greg. Why would we want to kill the wolf? The praire dogs would clean us out of grass and therefore we would have no cattle, so no worry on killing the wolf. In all realilty, you need to see sections and sections of prairie dog towns with nothing but holes, dirt, catcus, and weeds on it. People need to live with the prairie dogs like we have to. It is not a pretty site.

 

[Mrs.Greg]

MRS Greg. Why would we want to kill the wolf? The praire dogs would clean us out of grass and therefore we would have no cattle, so no worry on killing the wolf. In all realilty, you need to see sections and sections of prairie dog towns with nothing but holes, dirt, catcus, and weeds on it. People need to live with the prairie dogs like we have to. It is not a pretty site.

Did I mention we have gophers,I gather the same thing as your prairie dog,if they are having such a problam with them its because they have NO natural predetors,even here the gophers get out of hand,if the yotes can't eat them all,human predetors take over,but eradicating ANY species is wrong in my books.Anybody want to buy some Yotes :wink:

 

[Soapweed]

MRS Greg. Why would we want to kill the wolf? The praire dogs would clean us out of grass and therefore we would have no cattle, so no worry on killing the wolf. In all realilty, you need to see sections and sections of prairie dog towns with nothing but holes, dirt, catcus, and weeds on it. People need to live with the prairie dogs like we have to. It is not a pretty site.

Did I mention we have gophers,I gather the same thing as your prairie dog,if they are having such a problam with them its because they have NO natural predetors,even here the gophers get out of hand,if the yotes can't eat them all,human predetors take over,but eradicating ANY species is wrong in my books.Anybody want to buy some Yotes :wink:

Prairie dogs and pimples have a lot in common--they both desecrate the terrain on which they inhabit. If you were a zit-faced teenie-bopper, would you want to eliminate all of your pimples or just some of them? :???: :? :wink:

 

[Mrs.Greg]

MRS Greg. Why would we want to kill the wolf? The praire dogs would clean us out of grass and therefore we would have no cattle, so no worry on killing the wolf. In all realilty, you need to see sections and sections of prairie dog towns with nothing but holes, dirt, catcus, and weeds on it. People need to live with the prairie dogs like we have to. It is not a pretty site.

Did I mention we have gophers,I gather the same thing as your prairie dog,if they are having such a problam with them its because they have NO natural predetors,even here the gophers get out of hand,if the yotes can't eat them all,human predetors take over,but eradicating ANY species is wrong in my books.Anybody want to buy some Yotes :wink:

Prairie dogs and pimples have a lot in common--they both desecrate the terrain on which they inhabit. If you were a zit-faced teenie-bopper, would you want to eliminate all of your pimples or just some of them? :???: :? :wink:

Lol,cute analogy Soap.But hardly the same thing,if everyone in the world eradicated pimples we'd still be alive,not so with the eradication of a species.

I'm hoping I'm not coming across as a bunny hugger,I'm trying to make the point ranchers are the best at looking after thier lands and animals,we fight to keep our natural grass that way,in it are certain grasses,wild flowers that are never seen in a land thats cultivated. We're losing more and more of this precious commodity.Its the same with animals that are natural to a area.

The gopher-prairie dog problam seems to me is a problam with not enough natural predetors,if the yotes and wolves had natural foods{like the gopher} our cows and calves won't be bothered....well kind of like ours aren't. :wink:

 

[Jinglebob]

Did I mention we have gophers,I gather the same thing as your prairie dog,if they are having such a problam with them its because they have NO natural predetors,even here the gophers get out of hand,if the yotes can't eat them all,human predetors take over,but eradicating ANY species is wrong in my books.Anybody want to buy some Yotes :wink:

Prairie dogs and pimples have a lot in common--they both desecrate the terrain on which they inhabit. If you were a zit-faced teenie-bopper, would you want to eliminate all of your pimples or just some of them? :???: :? :wink:

Lol,cute analogy Soap.But hardly the same thing,if everyone in the world eradicated pimples we'd still be alive,not so with the eradication of a species.

I'm hoping I'm not coming across as a bunny hugger,I'm trying to make the point ranchers are the best at looking after thier lands and animals,we fight to keep our natural grass that way,in it are certain grasses,wild flowers that are never seen in a land thats cultivated. We're losing more and more of this precious commodity.Its the same with animals that are natural to a area.

The gopher-prairie dog problam seems to me is a problam with not enough natural predetors,if the yotes and wolves had natural foods{like the gopher} our cows and calves won't be bothered....well kind of like ours aren't. :wink:

If wolves would control p dogs, why were there so many p dogs before we came to this land? As late as 1920 or there abouts, as related by my father who was born in 1914, there were still wolves in this country. There were also huge p dog towns. One was from 2 to 8 miles wide by 30 miles long. One dog town! The only green would be short grasses, except at the outside where the dogs had not invaded. When they got too thick, Mother Nature would send some form of sickness to control them.

Maybe that is the reason we have liberals, as Mother Nature thinks mankind is too thick so she sent them to thin out our population? LOL

Mankind has fought a continuous battle against mice, rats, prarie dogs and coyotes, to name a few. So far we haven't eleminated any of them.

I am all for the cycle and circle of life, but you must recognize that we humans too are a part of it. We are the ultimute predator. We may have wiped out the Passenger pigeon and almost the buffalo, but that is about it.

If you want wolves around you that is sure fine with me. Just please don't force me to raise them on MY private land. I've already got to raise deer, mountain lions, fox, coyote, turkey, pronghorn, moles, etc....... much to my amusment and willingness, but I think I ought to be able to draw the line at wolves and bears.

I don't think I need any of them.

When praire dogs invade my land, I have always been able to get rid of them. I don't need the help of wolves. Besides, as I stated before, my coyotes and fox wouldn't appreciate them.

 

[DJL]

How about a truckload of cougars in trade for some foxes, JB? I'd trade for wolves, but you already said you don't need any, but we'll keep our bears, thank you.
The other day checking cows, my dog got her hackles up and I was looking a few hundred feet off, expecting a bear, but she was growling at a cougar under a tree about ten feet in front of her, before she came running back to the horses and us for rescue. It took quite a bit of hollering to get the cougar to give up on the idea of a collie lunch! At any rate, we can spare a few cougars in trade for some fox, as they are rare in this area.

 

[cutterone]

We don't have wolves or prairrie dogs here but do have our share of coyotes, cats, and raccons. The raccons and opposums carry disease which can affect the horses, cattle and others. I think that the whole problem lies with just some commom sense with everyone. We cannot just let wildlife overrun the country and yet let's don't have a"wipe-out" party. There is no market for many fur animals now and we are just over populated with them and deer. Just as any other crop that mother nature raises it must be harvested to control the check and balance system.
In some respects the "dogs" aren't much different than the investors putting up their "towns"! Maybe we need to do a little thinning with them as well??? They're eating up land at a pretty fast rate here.

 

[Jinglebob]

How about a truckload of cougars in trade for some foxes, JB? I'd trade for wolves, but you already said you don't need any, but we'll keep our bears, thank you.
The other day checking cows, my dog got her hackles up and I was looking a few hundred feet off, expecting a bear, but she was growling at a cougar under a tree about ten feet in front of her, before she came running back to the horses and us for rescue. It took quite a bit of hollering to get the cougar to give up on the idea of a collie lunch! At any rate, we can spare a few cougars in trade for some fox, as they are rare in this area.

Hmmm, large carnivore around and no small ones. Suppose there could be a co relationship there? :???:

:wink:

 

[Jinglebob]

We don't have wolves or prairrie dogs here but do have our share of coyotes, cats, and raccons. The raccons and opposums carry disease which can affect the horses, cattle and others. I think that the whole problem lies with just some commom sense with everyone. We cannot just let wildlife overrun the country and yet let's don't have a"wipe-out" party. There is no market for many fur animals now and we are just over populated with them and deer. Just as any other crop that mother nature raises it must be harvested to control the check and balance system.
In some respects the "dogs" aren't much different than the investors putting up their "towns"! Maybe we need to do a little thinning with them as well??? They're eating up land at a pretty fast rate here.

At least the investors are paying for land that they are using. P dogs are just squatters. They move in and take over and don't pay any taxes. Maybe we should call them illegal aliens? :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Larrry]

We could introduce mosquitos everyplace, then to feed them we could introduce people for something for them to feast upon

 

[Mrs.Greg]

We could introduce mosquitos everyplace, then to feed them we could introduce people for something for them to feast upon

Coming from the mosquito capital of the world,I could help you make this happen,for a small price of........

 

[Anonymous]

We could introduce mosquitos everyplace, then to feed them we could introduce people for something for them to feast upon

Coming from the mosquito capital of the world,I could help you make this happen,for a small price of........

You can't have that title--Saco Montana (50 miles east of me) has been named that by every bicyclist travelling the world :wink: :lol:

We're having quite a problem with West Nile this year-- not so much with horses as with people now-- already several local cases- and I heard they had an elderly person die from it....

State has a test trap about a mile from my house down on the river-- I think they said it was 1 in every 8 mosquitos trapped were virus carriers :shock: