Feds Poison Prairie Dogs

[gonesnakee]

concept3 if the farmers & ranchers you know have let them escalate into the millons (LOL not likely) they are not very worthy ones. I'm 3rd generation Albertan & have spent 37 years in farming & ranching areas & have never ever seen infestion of even close to 10,000 let alone 1,000,000+ You must know some pretty sad landowners who have negelected their properties for years heck generations to become that way (not likely). I really don't think you have a clue what you are talking about. None of the farmers or ranchers I know or have ever encountered in my 12 years in the oilpatch working literally 10's of 1000's of hours in fields all over Alberta, Sask, Montana, Dakotas, Colorado, Texas etc. etc. I have never even seen a field come close to the #'s you are obviously guessing at LOL I consider them vermin as well but they are quite easily kept in check if you have any clue in reguards to managing a ranching property. If you have a township & range of a field with 1,000,000 gophers I'd like the location so we can call up Ripleys Beleive It Or Not, cause right now your the only one that beleives it. Better yet I'll round up a bunch of my farmer & rancher buddies & we'll come by & pop off a couple 1000 rounds at 5-10 cents each. I don't know where you buy ammo, but your getting ripped off & most farmers/ranchers I know write it off anyway. Mark
P.S. I'd be more worried over the 500 Badgers that the 1,000,000 gophers would attract LOL
P.P.S. I just called the most expensive sporting goods store in Calgary & got a price on the most expensive 22 ammo they sell & with tax & all it came to 9.2 cents a shell just to state the actual facts.

[Syco]

LMAO! Don't mess with Mark! He's does his research! I just keep picturing millions of groundhogs or prarie dogs in one field, at that rate they would pretty much eliminate themselves through lack of food!

[gonesnakee]

Every now & then we require a reality check LOL Mark

[RFB]

Not to say that numbers today reach huge concentrations but I found this historical reference interesting.

"These squirrels are sociable creatures and live in colonies, or "towns," that may vary in size from a few individuals to several thousand animals. Vernon Bailey recorded that at the turn of the century an almost continuous and thickly inhabited dog town extended in a strip approximately 160 km wide and 400 km long on the high plains of Texas. This "city" had an estimated population of 400 million prairie dogs. "

[gonesnakee]

Well prove me wrong LOL Crazy, way to do your research : ) Mark

[RFB]

You're not wrong. Today populations are nowhere near historical levels. I believe one reference I saw said that they had lost 90 percent of their historical population. But it is interesting that they can occur in such concentrations. I'd be very interested to know what the largest prairie dog town is today.