Home On The Range

Ever take the time to watch a prairie dog? Interesting little creatures. Cute. Always living on the edge, wary of predators waiting to get a good meal.

Prairie dogs have again come under attack by the U.S. Forest Service:

According to Defenders of Wildlife: The Forest Service is proposing to make it easier to poison and kill prairie dogs anywhere on three public grasslands. They’re even targeting an area in South Dakota’s Buffalo Gap National Grassland called Conata Basin -- key habitat for the recently reintroduced swift fox and our nation’s most important recovery area for the endangered black-footed ferret.

Prairie dogs are a keystone species and a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Many animals eat these little critters and many larger critters also take over their tunnels to make a home of their own. If prairie dogs are gone, so is the other wildlife. Poisoning prairie dogs is also questionable because other animals, plants, and insects can be poisoned "accidentally." I say "accidentally" because if they know this is going to happen and it is done anyway, then it was no accident at all. The other species poisoning will be an overlooked by-product not given another thought to. The worst part of this proposed poisoning is that it is in areas set aside as National Grasslands where prairie dogs are expected to be living. And yes, our tax dollars will be funding this terrible project. Please go to the Defender's site to comment on this absurd proposal (or send one in to the Forest Service yourself) before it is too late. It just seems like the animal attack never stops. Makes my heart heavy thinking about it.

The picture above, a Unita ground squirrel, and one other one from a different hole, were the permanent residents of my Slough Creek campsite. Ground squirrels and prairie dogs are related and if one did not know any better, they could very easily be mistaken for each other.

Oh, while I'm on the subject, I know many people that go out shooting prairie dogs for weekend fun. Some of these folks even have their maps marked with prairie dog towns all over the state. They share the maps with other killers. Then they come in to work or school and laugh about blasting away these little animals, guts and blood splattered everywhere as the other animals watch. I think it is just plain sick.

Here's a link to learn more about these little critters:
Save The Prairie Dogs