Shades of Caddyshack

I just read an article about people in Boulder, CO being upset by use of the Rodenator. The device pumps propane into prairie dog burrows and ignites it. The product is not sold as a way to kill the prairie dogs, though I don’t think they have a warning before the bang. Some people are upset about seeing flaming prairie dogs, others complain about the noise which apparently exceeds the city noise limit. The device is only legal outside of the city.

It reminded me of something interesting I learned about prairie dogs. From what I’ve heard, prairie dogs are considered a nuisance because they damage pasture land, but I’ve learned recently that they don’t necessarily. I saw a show about them that had some information I hadn’t heard before. One thing was that they have a language that the ones on guard duty use. Different calls mean different things, to the level of distinguishing between grazing animals, predators, people they recognize as not being a threat and someone who they don’t recognize who may be a threat.

Another interesting thing was that the prairie dogs improve grazing land. They eat plants that grazing animals don’t which lets the grasses grow better. They also aerate the soil with their burrows and other activity and help spread the fertilizer around. When they are left undisturbed, prairie dogs improve the pasture and make it better for grazing.

They do leave holes, but generally grazing animals don’t really care about those. I imagine they are dangerous for horses and people, though.

I originally thought that they were a nuisance animal in pasture land. Amazing what you can learn from good research. I thought it was interesting, anyway. The language thing is weird, though.

Now, if they were living in a backyard it might be another story.