Feds Poison Prairie Dogs

[soda]

Feds Poison Prairie Dogs to Save Ferrets

1 hour, 27 minutes ago Science - AP


By COLLEEN SLEVIN, Associated Press Writer

DENVER - The federal government will begin poisoning prairie dogs in southwestern South Dakota next week after reaching a deal with conservationists designed to protect the endangered black-footed ferret.

Related Links
• Plan to Poison Prairie Dogs Challenged (NPR)



The U.S. Department of Agriculture (news - web sites) agreed to distribute poison on only 5,000 acres instead of about 8,000 acres in the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, including the Conata Basin, where more than half of the nation's 400 wild ferrets live.


Following complaints from neighboring ranchers that prairie dogs are spreading onto their property, federal officials plan to lay out poisoned oats on Monday.


Eight conservation groups sued, fearing some ferrets, which depend on prairie dogs for 90 percent of their diet, would also die. Both sides began negotiating a settlement last week at the urging of a judge.


The land excluded under the deal includes prairie dog towns where ferrets have been spotted. It reduces from one mile to a half-mile the buffer zone where the poisoning will take place in some areas.


In the future, the federal government also agreed to consider non-lethal methods of controlling prairie dogs and to study the impact of poisoning before moving ahead with another round.


Conservation groups were still upset that prairie dogs will be killed, but they said the settlement points the way toward a more permanent solution to the tension between ranching and wildlife.


"We hope to replicate those (solutions) in the future once we can show here how they work," said Jonathan Proctor of the Predator Conservation Alliance, one of the plaintiffs.


The conservation groups had sought to stop next week's poisoning until the impact on ferrets could be sorted out. But, because prairie dogs on the neighboring private land had already been poisoned, the government said it need to act quickly to prevent the animals from spreading onto the ranches before snow started to fall.


Critics worried that ferrets could die if they eat the bait or if they eat prairie dogs who have been poisoned.


Under the deal, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether to move any ferrets discovered in areas slated for poisoning. If the agency decides to keep them there, no poison can be left in the area.

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I just hate it when humans try to interfere....

What about all the other animals who eat prairie dogs? Sounds like a really stooopid idea to me.

[Tim and Julie B]

Wow that seems really dumb. Poison an animals food source to try and protect it? Hope they think this one through. It seems like they just wanted to do it without doing their homework.

[Syco]

How stupid can the goverment get? How many other species will eat these oats? How many predators will die from eating poisoned prarie dogs? If they really want to get rid of the prarie dogs why don't they shoot them or trap them and move them somewhere else. *shaking my head* I just don't understand this.

[Linds]

What kind of dimwit puts poison in to wild in an effort to control *one* species????? Even the slowest person I know would know better than that, when you put poison out there, you are putting poison in a link in the food chain. Both Prairie Dogs are consumed by a wide variety of animals, from insects to birds to mammals, and an additional (large) group of other animals also feeds on oats! I'm really having trouble with this one. Say there is ONE person THAT stupid, how can a whole damn lot of them be that unbelievably stupid????

[concept3]

Well none of you are farmers and obviosly dont know any. Syco it is 100 percent impossible to eliminate priarie dogs through shooting or traping. The reproduce way to fast, the olny effective way to eliminate them is poison. They go onto farmers land dig holes that cows, horses and other livestock break their legs then have to be put down. Now whats worth more hmmmm thats a hard one , people pets and food or a couple rodents....

[concept3]

and linds they put the poison in the hole or a poison box so the livestock or wild deer/moose so on cant eat it

[Linds]

Originally posted by concept3
and linds they put the poison in the hole or a poison box so the livestock or wild deer/moose so on cant eat it

That does nothing to protect any wild rodents, birds, and other animals that can still gain access (and the animals that feed on them), or solve the problems of the large mass of animals that would be affected by feeding on the poisoned prairie dogs. Couple of rodents???... hardly Poisoning anything in nature simply creates an out of control chain of horrible events.

[concept3]

well theyve been doing it since farming began, Im not saying its right, just look at the farmers point of veiw when he is losing 10-100 thousand of livestock a year. The farmers dont have time to sit their and shoot each one individually and the next year do it again because they reproduce so fast, it is the olny affordable method that creates results. You would have a diffrent point of veiw if your dad or anyone close to you was a farmer

[gonesnakee]

Being from AB I can relate, but I am also against Poison. Gophers or whatever everyone wants to call them (& yes I know there are different species folks, its a general term here) can be kept "in check" yearly in the spring with a semiauto 22 & a couple of 1000 lots of hypervelocity hollow points & a few hours time. Bad enough to disrupt the food chain, but to have everything that scavenges in the wild such as birds, mammals etc. subject to the poison as well, not to mention the slow painfull death. Least shooting them creates a spring surplus of safe scavagable food for a few weeks & doesn't eliminate them entirely totally disrupting the food chain. If given the choice I'd prefer to have my head blown off Vs a slow death over a period of days after being poisoned. Thems the facts of life in Cattle Country, something to think about next time ya BBQ or wear leather. Mark

[justinO]

How can one want to kill something as cute as this :P

[gonesnakee]

Unfortunately we live in the world of the Almighty Buck & just don't play well with others. Mark

[Matt.B]

One way they could kill them is going to a town and pump CO2 into the holes and either put mesh over the other holes or peg them off when they try to run out of the holes.
Matt

[concept3]

ive seen feilds over run by 1 000 000 gophers, Try to shoot them out, at 25 cents a shell now, thats 25 000 to get rid of them in one feild, gimme a break, this is an argument that comes to the human race or animals, I value people over gophers, maybe im strange but i would gladly see 100 000 000 gophers die before 10 horses or one person, agree or not, it all depends on if you know a farmer or not

[justinO]

I grew up among farmers, and I can totally agree with the need to eliminate vermin. I just think that they are going at it the wrong way. Poision isn't the best way to eliminate prairie dogs. there are too many consequences.

[bighillreptiles]

Money talks and the rest have to dye I also come from farming Famly and would reather shoot them and feed them to the dogs than poison them ,talk about inhumain ,if we did that ew would be up on charges for cruelty to animanals my 2 cents worth