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Plea to halt prairie dog killings advances

By Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 14, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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The Colorado Wildlife Commission watches video of a prairie dog hunt Thursday. The group WildEarth Guardians asked for rules to ban using the animals for gory target practice.

Photo by George Kochaniec Jr. / The Rocky

The Colorado Wildlife Commission watches video of a prairie dog hunt Thursday. The group WildEarth Guardians asked for rules to ban using the animals for gory target practice.

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The Colorado Wildlife Commission expressed disgust with videos glorifying violent prairie dog kills and agreed to review a petition from activists who want an end to using wild animals as "target practice."

WildEarth Guardians, backed with legal help from University of Denver law school students, asked commissioners Thursday to end the shooting of wildlife as a spectacle for amusement.

While commissioners didn't commit to banning such practices, they agreed to discuss it further with activists and draft possible regulations to address some of the issues raised.

"I find the practice of popping prairie dogs in the field and having little giggle sessions around it extremely objectionable," said commissioner Brad Coors.

Coors and others were reacting to exhibits that included Internet videos called "Maximum Carnage," with segments such as "The Prairie Dog Olympics" that show the creatures flying through the air when shot or disintegrating into "red mist" to the joy of triggermen.

He and other commissioners said the actions taint other hunters who have a high regard for wildlife and employ ethical hunting practices.

"I'm jubilant," said Wendy Keefover-Ring of WildEarth Guardians, who has often met with defeat at the governor-appointed Wildlife Commission, but saw Thursday's action as a victory. "They could have shut us down right now."

The commission's decision to review the matter came over objections from the Colorado Cattlemen's Association, the Colorado Wool Growers Association and landowners.

"(Activists say) prairie dogs are not detrimental to the agricultural community, and I'm here to tell you they are," said Bill Canterbury of the cattlemen's association. "They destroy the grasslands, create holes and even encroach on hayfields during drought years. We've had livestock break their legs."

It is unclear what specific rules might emerge from the petition.

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5048

Comments

  • March 14, 2008

    7:30 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    UglyDuck writes:

    I'm very thankful I don't have these prairie rats on my land and if I did, there would definitely be some "dusting".

  • March 14, 2008

    8:43 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    rellimpank writes:

    ---look at it from the standpoint of the prairie dog---if death is imminent would you rather be

    A)--bitten and eaten alive by a weasel or coyote--

    B)--sucked into a giant vacuum cleaner or asphyxiated and burned by a propane-air mixture--

    C)--disappear instantly in a meat-colored mist caused by a 3000 foot per second bullet--

    --I'd take option C any time--

  • March 14, 2008

    9:04 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    CWW writes:

    Where's the compassion for their rodent brothers, the mice and rats? They've been Terminexed to death for years. Will no one stop the slaughter???

  • March 14, 2008

    9:04 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    jd writes:

    Back home we had an activist that clamored the way these people are about killing these vermin but when one showed up on her property. It was killed immediatly because it was going to ruin her lawn. Double standards every time.

    These same type of people stopped a relative of mine from putting up a building because it would block the wonderful view. Three bulldozers were torched at about $500,000 each. My relative walked away from the project. Ten years later the same people that torched the bulldozers built their organizations headquarters on the exact same spot.

  • March 14, 2008

    9:54 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Theoldguy writes:

    When I lived in Thornton I had a prairie dog visit me in my garage. I closed the overhead door and "took care of business". The next day I heard a strange noise next door. I looked over the fence and the neighbors dog was shaking a prairie dog and dropping it. This routine continued until I told the neighbor what was going on. No sense saving the critter since it was close to being finished.
    I would suggest that prairie dogs are cute, but definitely a problem when faced with a human population.
    This is really a silly subject. I'm going to the post office.

  • March 14, 2008

    9:56 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    BirdonaWire writes:

    killing for the joy of it is pretty damn sick. I have no love at all for prarie dogs, but there is a line between getting rid of pests and vidotaping a target practice session. Sick puds!!!

  • March 14, 2008

    10:05 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    greenleaf writes:

    jd,

    Your example brings to mind one I read of a number of years ago. A lady who had recently moved from California to a sprawling, actively growing subdivision near Parker complained that the developer was removing prairie dogs from the field next to her house.

    She was indignant that the developer was doing this. I wrote a letter to the editor in response, which wasn't printed. My complaint with the well-intended lady was that she didn't see her own involvement in the process. It apparently never occurred to her that the home she recently moved into had almost certainly displaced some prairie dogs.

    Having said this, I have to say that, as a biologist(botanist), I understand the importance of the prairie dog more than many recent posters. This is what is known as a keystone species that supports many other critters in the environment. They used to be far more common than they are now. So , too, were hawks, burrowing owls, ferrets etc. that feed upon them or depend upon them to provide homes.

    One complaint about them is what they do to vegetation around their homes. In nature, this would be temporary. Once the area is stripped of vegetation, they would move their colonies. What they leave behind that we consider a wasteland is, in reality, primed for a resurgence of growth that restores the prairie, much as grass fires always have.

    The "dogs" aerate the soil and spread seed and dung (a valuable thing where bison and cattle compact the soils). The problem is that they can no longer freely move from place to place. That's the reality of human expansion.

    As with so many issues, I see a need for compromise between animal rights groups and farmers and ranchers. We need to preserve this species as it's important for so many others. We also need to understand the concerns of agricultural interests that have a hard enough time making a buck these days.

    We need to work together to try to achieve a "win/win" scenario. I'm afraid that what we have now is a "lose/lose".

  • March 14, 2008

    10:40 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    LOUIE writes:

    Box the fuzzy little critters up and let them loose on the property of that land snatching ex-judge, and his moll, up in Jeffco.

  • March 14, 2008

    10:48 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    tjpatriot writes:

    Prairie dogs are sooo cute... at least until you get up close, then they are disgusting flea-infested rodents. I wouldn't want my children near them or walking around in their colonies, after all they CARRIERS OF BUBONIC PLAGUE DUH!!

    I have a theory, called "The Prairie Dog Effect". The basis supposes that people (in general) will "worry" a certain amount, no matter what the circumstances are. This trait evolved through eons of human development to deal with times of famine, physical danger, or other life threatening situations. Although these dangers essentially don't exist anymore, the human trait to "worry" remains. Therefore, if people don't have anything to worry about, they will manufacture something. So, whenever you read stories about "The Plight of the Prairie Dog" you should be happy, because it is a indication that we are living in the best of times since people have nothing realistic to worry about.

  • March 14, 2008

    10:50 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    AWM writes:

    http://www.rodex.biz/ Look it up. Problem solved.

  • March 16, 2008

    2:47 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    preacher1 writes:

    Perhaps the answer to the prairie dog dilemma is quite simple. First, live-trap a few hundred or thousand; take them the the State Capitol and the property of the State legislature members, and any of the jerk activists (if any of them own anything -they usually don't, except an old wreck full of marijuana smoke) and release them in breeding colony numbers.

    When they have sufficiently destroyed these properties, trap another few thousand and release them.

    This should rid your town of all the pests: Legislators; looney activists, and the people who support them. You should also register for jury duty, so that when an activist is brought up on any charges, you will be ready to salt them away for a long vacation at taxpayer expense!

    Just treat all vermin the same way, and all will be well.

  • March 28, 2008

    11:20 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    sscoyote writes:

    Just another emtional agenda by those that want to interfere with sound wildlife management practices. And it will probably work because most people make their decisions with their hearts not their minds. I doubt the Wildlife Commission is any different (Brad Coors uses key words such as extremely objectionable)regardless of their position. Interesting how the DOW is funded solely by sportsman, and once again those that want to have an emotional input regarding wildlife mamagement decisions without ponying up to the table are being addressed (I say, NO REPRESENTATION WITHOUT TAXATION)!!

    Ironically the best friend the prairie dog ever had was the prairie dog shooter. Here's why--

    1) All the prairie dog towns that I've shot in for many years (even those that had extreme amounts of shooting pressure) continued to increase their populations.

    2)...but the ranchers think that the populations are being held in check (when they actually are not really), which keeps him from poisoning the towns and other common prairie species (spp.).

    2) Consequently the populations stay healthy due to the curbing of poisoning programs.

    3) The shooting industry sees a substantial economic boost from sales of "varmint shooting" products. Have you considered the effect your ban would have on the fantastic economy we have now? (Remember the Nucla Pr. Dog Shoot, and the effect the elimination of that contest had on the economy of that region?).

    4) If the ban goes forward it could very well sound the death knell for many of Colorado's PD towns with a statewide poisoning campaign that WILL occur.

    5) Overall, sport shooting of PD's is the best management system for ranchers, ecologists, and the sp. itself. It may not look pretty, but it's "nicer" than dying from the plague or gassing/poisoning.