| PRAIRIE
DOGS AND PRAIRIE WILDLIFE
- What
is RMAD’s Prairie Wildlife Program?
- Where
can I find out more about RMAD’s Prairie Wildlife Program?
- Where
can I get information on the Prairie Dog Coalition?
- Whom
do I contact about a prairie dog colony that’s been gassed
or otherwise destroyed?
- I
recently discovered that a prairie dog colony I visit regularly
has been bulldozed. A few animals have survived. How can I help
them?
- How
can I keep prairie dogs off of my property?
- Lots
of prairie dogs are getting killed at an intersection by my house.
How do I keep them safe?
- Where
can I get information on managing a prairie dog colony?
- Where
can I find information on raptor perches and barriers?
- Does
RMAD trap and relocate prairie dogs?
- Is
plague a legitimate concern?
1.
What is RMAD’s Prairie Wildlife Program?
This program educates the public about the plight of prairie dogs
and the prairie dog ecosystem; serves as a resource for people who
want to help prairie wildlife; participates in policy making with
federal, state and local governments and agencies; presents legal
challenges to state and federal agencies approving the destruction
of prairie wildlife; and provides leadership in the national coalition
effort (see www.prairiedogcoalition.org)
to protect prairie dogs and their ecosystems.
2.
Where can I find out more about RMAD’s Prairie Wildlife Program?
RMAD’s Prairie Wildlife Program is described at www.prairiedogs.org.
3.
Where can I get information on the Prairie Dog Coalition?
Visit www.prairiedogcoalition.org
or write:
Prairie Dog Coalition
2525 Arapahoe Ave, #E4-527
Boulder, CO 80302
4.
Whom do I contact about a prairie dog colony that’s been gassed
or otherwise destroyed?
Contact RMAD via e-mail (prairiehotline@rmad.org),
telephone (303-449-4422), fax (720-565-9096) or U.S. Mail (2525
Arapahoe Ave, #E4-335, Boulder, CO 80302). We will log the incident
in our colony database. Such data have been extremely useful to
RMAD as the organization fights for greater protections for urban
and suburban colonies. Note, however, that little can be done when
a colony is being poisoned. Aggressive, proactive work is a more
successful method of protecting an active colony.
5.
I recently discovered that a prairie dog colony I visit regularly
has been bulldozed. A few animals have survived. How can I help
them?
A person’s first inclination in this situation is to get out
there and try to trap the animals, and then start looking for land
on which to relocate them. Unfortunately, this is illegal in Colorado.
We recommend you contact RMAD and report what you have seen. Call
the Colorado Division of Wildlife (303-297-1192—expect to
be on hold) or contact the DOW’s district wildlife manager
directly and ask what can be done.
Call the open space department
or council/commissioners in the city/county where this is occurring,
explain the situation and ask that they provide relocation land
for the survivors.
At the same time, contact
one or more of the Colorado groups that relocate prairie dogs, such
as Wild Places (303-546-9478), Prairie Partners (303-638-4672),
Prairie Dog Specialists (303-277-1455) and Prairie Dog Action (303-439-9264).
Ask for their advice and perhaps a commitment to assist. Note that
black-tailed prairie dog relocation activity generally stops from
February through mid-June because prairie dogs are having babies.
If you still have time
and energy, contact the people responsible for the slaughter, have
a talk with them about what they’ve done and discuss with
them how they might avoid killing or mitigate damage in the future.
If they aren’t at all receptive or cooperative, find out their
home phone numbers and distribute them on the Internet along with
their work numbers and anything else you can find out about them.
Write a letter to the
people representing you in the State Capitol (www.vote-smart.org),
including your governor. And write a letter to the editor and distribute
it to as many papers as possible (see the Resources
page).
Federal and state policy-makers
are realizing that prairie dogs must be “preserved”
at a species level. Fragmented and isolated colonies in the urban/suburban
corridor are not yet of concern to them, but they heard at the 2003
technical conference in Fort Collins that preservation without morality
is insufficient. And when morality finally gets factored in to this
equation, the prairie dogs—and hopefully all the wildlife—in
urban and suburban colonies will no longer be treated as inhumanely
as they are now.
6.
How can I keep prairie dogs off of my property?
Determine the property from where the prairie dogs are migrating.
Determine the property owner and contact him or her. Collaborate
in designing a barrier to keep the animals from migrating to your
property. The Prairie Dog Relocation Handbook at www.prairiedogcoalition.org
contains ideas and resources for effective barriers.
7.
Lots of prairie dogs are getting killed at an intersection by my
house. How do I keep them safe?
Determine who owns the land on which the colony exists. Contact
the owner and discuss whether or not that person will work with
you to design and construct a barrier to keep the prairie dogs from
going into the street. The Prairie Dog Relocation Handbook at
www.prairiedogcoalition.org
contains ideas and resources for effective barriers.
8.
Where can I get information on managing a prairie dog colony?
Download a copy of the Prairie Dog Relocation Handbook
from the Prairie Dog
Coalition’s web site. You may also call the Coalition
at 303-449-4422 and purchase a hard-copy handbook. The handbook
contains practical information on managing colonies as well as a
resource section that offers help from the experts.
9.
Where can I find information on raptor perches and barriers?
Download a copy of the Prairie Dog Relocation Handbook
from the Prairie Dog
Coalition’s web site or contact the Coalition for a copy.
The handbook contains instructions for building perches and barriers
as well as a resource section that offers help from the experts.
10.
Does RMAD trap and relocate prairie dogs?
Volunteers with RMAD are frequently involved with relocations, but
we don’t lead relocation efforts. We urge you to contact the
following organizations to get involved with relocation: Prairie
Preservation Alliance (303-638-4672), Wild Places (303-546-9478),
Prairie Dog Specialists (303-277-1455) and Prairie Dog Action (303-439-9264).
11.
Is plague a legitimate concern?
Human fears of contracting the plague from prairie dogs are exaggerated
and generally used as an excuse for extermination. Of the 47 plague
cases in Colorado since 1957, only 10 were directly linked to prairie
dogs and, of those 10, only one was a fatality.
The Colorado Department
of Health states, “If precautions are taken, the probability
of an individual contracting plague, even in an active plague area,
is quite low.”
The most common means
of human infection is from cats and dogs, who can contract plague
by catching and eating infected animals or by being bitten by infective
fleas.
When a colony becomes
infected with plague, 99.5 percent of the prairie dogs will die
in a short period of time. In humans, the incubation period is usually
two to six days. Plague in humans can be treated successfully with
antibiotics if it is diagnosed early in its course.
Control and Prevention
-
Rodent
population control, such as poisoning, is not recommended by
the Colorado Department of Health. Poisoning of prairie dogs
should not be employed because this releases fleas to the environment,
causing additional risk to people and domestic pets.
-
Dusting
with insecticide powder in burrows is effective in controlling
plague in relatively small areas with high use by humans.
-
Avoid contact
with all sick and dead rodents and rabbits. Report any presence
of blowflies or dead animal smell to local or state health departments.
-
Keep cats
and dogs from entering colonies.
Following these simple
precautions should minimize the risk of infected fleas finding new
hosts, thereby reducing the already low risk of human infection.
RMAD thanks the Colorado
Department of Health, which provided most of the information presented
here.
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