Black tail prarie dog

[HELENA]

KaHane is getting a few prarie dogs in and I'm thinking of keeping a pair. Just wondering if anyone has had experiences with them or have any info that they would like to share
Thanks

[marisa]

I am sorry I don't but YOU ARE SO LUCKY!!!!

I want a praire dog soooooo bad. I have wanted one for years. They are adorable. I just can't have the time I want to spend with one or a pair because of my Jack Russell. They wouldn't mix well, and my dog is very selfish!

I have read lots on the internet but I don't have any personal experiences for you. But if you look on google there are a million links to other people who love prairie dogs.

If you do get one or two, get pictures!!!!

Marisa

[sSNAKESs.com]

damn!! I have no experience either but, i DEFINATLY want to see some pics when you get them!! Congrats on those!! and I am also SO jealous!!! :P

[rethius]

wow, out here praire Dogs are a pain in the ***, We hunt them on friends ranches, can never seem to get rid of them!
-Jeff

[aqua_demon]

I live right by a giant praire dof town i can go catch them like that anyone that wants one e-mail me at aquaOdemon@aol.com and tell me how much youll pay, ill find out more and see if i can ship them so just e-mail me

[Tim and Julie B]

I think that is illegal!

HELENA: I only experiance with one was at the local pet store. The owner brought in two. They sold right away. Then he found out they were illegal to sell. Check the by laws in your area before you tell to many people about them. I found that they were very friendly and curious but not as rowdy as a ferret. Although it did bite my friend. It was really funny!

[marisa]

I am not sure if its illegal....BUT purchasing anything from someone willing to "catch" it will give you a world of problems.

aqua demon if you are willing to catch them I hope you are also planning on paying for deworming, vet check up and vaccinations before you plan on selling them.

Marisa

[snakes_all_day]

here in texas prarie dogs are a pain because they dig holes every were and the damn cows step in them and break there legs we shoot em every time we see em. but i guess if you keep it as a pet it relly doesent matter

[Hamster of Borg]

And pay for the fines when TX Parks & Wildlife shows up at the door asking for your permits. They take the sale of prairie dogs rather seriously, and without the proper collection and commercial vendor permits the fines are pretty stiff.

I still haven't figure out why people kill them yet. They eat native grasses, not farm crops (unless you happen to grow timothy hay). Their worst offense is digging holes - so I guess people should be out killing pet dogs, armadillos, badgers too... they dig holes as well. Besides, you'll never get rid of them unless you clear out a whole town which can be hundreds - not to mention there are several groups in TX working on relocating unwanted prairie dogs if you just take the time to make a few phone calls instead of slaughtering them.

I have three, they're incredibly loving pets. Once they bond to an owner, they treat you just as if you were another prairie dog in their family. They are distrustful of strangers, so they're not really something you can hand around to your friends to show off. Their diet is hay and grasses mainly. A few other things can be thrown in as treats. There are a couple companies that make commercial prairie dog foods now, specifically formulated for their needs (and since they can't have alfalfa). In the fall-winter males go into rut (which is why many people suggest getting them neutered). Rut basically is a several month long PMS run. Where they get tempermental and pretty much just want to be left alone. Breeding them in captivity is a rare hit or miss thing, very few prairie dogs will even try to breed in captivity, so neutering isn't a big deal. If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to try to answer.



Ham

[snakes_all_day]

we do kill badgers and kyoties wich is a dog but i could not bring my sel to kill an armidillo i have cought the before thoe

[Baby "G"]

Sorry I can't help either...but I really want some of those cute guys too.
The pet store around here was selling them until recently, I guess they're having "permit" problems right now and the little guys are temporarily not for sale.
They're pretty pricey too....so I won't be getting one for a while..

[Xetox]

Looks like tasty food for my pets

No really they are cute, and would prolly make great pets!

snakes all day, I have a hard time reading your post where are you from? or do you not know how to spell?

[gonesnakee]

Most ranchers everywhere consider them as pests & treat them as such. It is because of the hole thing. Gophers do not just dig one hole they dig dozens. So if you have a colony established in your pasture you have literally hundreds of holes. Gophers also bring in badgers, which go around trying to dig out the gophers everywhere. So now you have hundreds of gopher holes in your pasture & dozens of huge holes that the badger creates. Big deal just a bunch of holes. Holes such as the above break horse's & cow's legs all the time & gopher holes are big enough to break a fowl or calfs leg. Ranchers buy large pastures to set up their livestock in, not to cater to gophers. Its not just the ranchers either. Rich folk on expensive acrerages just can't stand to have their lawns & gardens destroyed by pesky vermin either. At least ranchers will address things themselves, not just call the exterminator. I know the gophers have every right as a living creature, but ranchers/landowners don't see it that way. It is sad to say, but by shooting them in most cases does them a favour. It thins them out, but doesn't wipe them out. I would much rather risk being shot to death then die a slow painful death over a period of a week or weeks due to poisoning. Most ranchers set poison baits everywhere for gophers. The gophers aren't the only animals that eat the poison either plus everthing that eats the bodies of the poisoned gophers is poisoned as well. That includes other gophers as well as they are cannibals, but it also includes birds of prey, foxes, weasels & any & all scavengers etc. I myself would rather see them shot than have the whole countryside subjected to poisoning. I grew up around this my whole life so if I seem insensitive thats why, but its a fact of life in cattle country. Something for you all to think about on your next trip to McDonalds or any other burger or steak joint. If I offended you sorry, I'm just relaying some facts of life to you. Mark I.
P.S. I'm not a rancher so please don't hate me or them. I am the keeper of a large # of snakes though, so I'm responsible for the deaths of thousands of rodents yearly. I put this statement here for all of you hypocrits out there. Remember that before you get on your high horses. M.I.

[Tim and Julie B]

Texans will pretty much shoot anything! Why the hell would you shoot a badger? There population is seriously declining. Do they do any thing but dig holes?
Pairie dogs or any other animal that is slowly being pushed out of it's range and comes in to contact with people is considered a pest. That is why wildlife in general is threatened. No one truely owns land. It has been here for millions of years before us and it will be here for millions of years after us. We just occupy it for a while. What one person does for themselves indirectly effects everybody as a whole. Having said that ranchers have to make a living. I wish there was another way but there is not. It is a grey area in which both sides are right. So this is an argument that can't be won.

Hypocrites....no. There is a big deferance between farming an animal for food (like ranchers) and shooting wild animals. I liked your statment all the way up tothe P.S. part. I will never condone the killing of a threatened species like a Fox or Birds of prey though as many farmers/ranchers do. There has to be an ethical line. Although I am agreeing with you on some points.

"If the horse appears high then maybe you need to change your perspective."- Tim.

[Hamster of Borg]

Of course, prairie dogs are not the same animals as gophers... but aside from that, the comment I made is that there are options to blowing them away. There are many groups in Texas right now running all over the whole state rehoming entire prairie dog populations. The prairie dog numbers are dwindling fast, at what point are we blatantly contributing to the demise of yet another species? What will ranchers do when they're put on the protected species list? Which is happening more quickly than they'd really want to know. Besides, when you buy land, I guarantee you, the prairie dogs were there first. And something tells me not many fowl have their legs broken by prairie dog holes. All those gimped chickens out there...

Prairie dogs do make excellent pets, for those people who have the time and the inclination to work with them and give them what they need.

Rav