Fuzzy Mammal Beat

Plague-Ridden Boulder Prairie Dogs Reignite Old Controversy

By Jenny Shank, 8-09-05

It’s a controversy as old as the settled West, pitting developers, ranchers, and property owners against environmentalists and preservationists. No, the subject of this rancor isn’t water rights or urban sprawl—it’s prairie dogs. And whenever a prairie dog colony tests positive for plague, as fleas from a north Boulder colony did last week, the anti-prairie dog coalition scores a victory in the ongoing battle.

As a lifelong westerner who has never owned a golf course or run a ranch, I’ve always enjoyed prairie dogs. I admired the way they seemed to, ahem, doggedly reestablish the hole-ridden, dusty Old West wherever it suited them, as they did in a small southeast Denver field down the street from where I grew up, creating a rodent island paradise surrounded by busy urban streets. I am no less charmed by their mannerisms than Lewis and Clark were when they first encountered the critters. They packed up a live one to send to Thomas Jefferson, along with several other animals, but it’s a testimony to the prairie dog’s hardiness that it was one of the few that survived the journey.

Prairie dogs are found in much of the open space in Boulder, and I love watching them waddle around, burdened by their fat stomachs, greeting each other with a kiss, and sounding alerts with a yip. In the spring I watch the tiny baby doggers take their first tentative steps outside of the burrow. Often when they sound their alerts, the dogs will rear up on both legs and raise their arms in they air, so that it feels almost like they’re worshipping you as a passing dignitary while you run by. Or maybe that’s just those pesky delusions of grandeur flaring up again.

I am not alone in harboring a soft spot for prairie dogs—the City of Boulder has done everything to show its affection for the animals but have city council members go around giving them annual wet kisses on the mouth. In 2000, they passed the sort of ordinance that makes Coloradoans outside of Boulder roll their eyes—a law that prohibited the poisoning of prairie dogs, followed by one that forbade the destruction of their burrows. A revised ordinance, passed in January this year, allows the killing of prairie dogs provided “a reasonable effort has been made to relocate the prairie dogs to another site,� and “the most humane method of lethal control possible will be used.�

Plenty of people get bent out of shape about the fuss that’s made to relocate prairie dogs, and plenty of people derive joy from killing them. There was even a group calling itself the Varmint Militia for a while, staging prairie dog shooting events. This group was featured prominently in the feature-length 1998 documentary on the controversy, Varmints.

One device offered on the internet for prairie dog eradication is The Rodenator Pro, which boasts a heavy-metal-band-esque logo and the catchy slogan “The boss of the burrow.� This device uses “a controlled mixture of propane and oxygen that is injected into the rodent's burrow. A built-in, self contained ignition system then ignites the mixture, creating an underground shockwave or concussion that instantly eliminates the rodent and collapses the tunnel system.� Hmmm, that sounds…safe. I wonder what method The Rodenator Amateur employs. The device is banned in Colorado, but the website includes a study from the Montana Department of Agriculture that details how The Rodenator Pro was used to great effect in a study in that state. Luckily for the prairie dogs, they have defenders who are equally as passionate, such as the folks at Rocky Mountain Animal Defense who file lawsuits on their behalf and keep track of developments on their website.

As for the plague-ridden north Boulder colony, government officials have posted warnings in the Wonderland Hills trail area, and have cautioned people to keep their dogs on leashes and wear insect repellant to avoid being bit by plague-carrying fleas that can transmit the disease from prairie dogs to humans. I’m glad they haven’t encouraged citizens to eliminate diseased animals, or things could get very Caddy Shack around here.

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