Thursday, August 10, 2017

Not a good sign





Nature abounds with wonders.


I don't always completely embrace those wonders.


In checking some pasture I haven't looked at for more than a month I was shocked to discover three active prairie dog burrows.


We've never had prairie dogs before.

From the grass farmer/rancher perspective, this is not a good thing. Prairie dogs can ruin grass production and grazing across a lot of acres.


For the moment there are three burrows. We really need to get that down to zero burrows.


Time to plan a strategy.


18 comments:

  1. Good luck with that. Has the wet spring and summer given them enough food and cover to migrate?

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    1. My tbought is that three consecutive years of abundant moisture means abundant food and increasing populations from bottom to top. Population density leads to range/territory expansion, including prairie dogs expanding onto our ranch. That's my hypothesis anyway. I'm studying the literature to get a sense of how best to proceed.

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  2. Time to start shoot'n, those dang things can do a lot of damage in a short time.

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    1. In some of the studies I've read today it seems that shooting can be counterproductive -- can prompt larger litters and more rapid rebreeding. Looking like chemical or thermobaric control might be the best bet to eliminate a new, small population. Kind of disappointing as I wanted to do some sniping! 😕

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  3. Refer to Operation Plan 5.56 and that should solve the problem in short order.
    John

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    1. That wss my first intuition but may be the wrong approach -- see above comment.

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  4. Thermobaric sounds fun too! But maybe I've seen caddy shack too many times.

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  5. That's a lot of earth moving for such a small critter. Wish that I was as productive in mine. Good luck. If your neighbors are not trying to eradicate then it will be a never ending battle.

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    1. The sure simulate what we would call industriousness. Good point on the neighbors. My battle against thistle is not helped at all by neighboring thistle. I'll have to scout around and see if there are other nearby prairie dog colonies. Haven't heard of or seen any yet but they may be there.

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  6. Ruh roh!

    Ah yes, when the neighbors don't take care of things and then those things become a bigger problem.

    Annex the neighbor's ranch? Do they have guarantees from Britain and France? Inquiring minds read too much history, er, want to know...

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    1. Yes! Theresa Chamberlain and Emmanuel Lebrun each have in their hand, a paper signed by me, which promises neighborly peace in our time.

      To be completely fair the neighbors do the best they can. They fall short of my personal desires from time to time but I know that I myself come up short in their estimation as well. It's ironic that my farming neighbors eliminate the possibility of prairie dogs by tilling and planting, but their crop production allows weeds to grow (like thistle and tumbleweeds) which I find irritating and inconvenient. My grasslands eliminate weed production but from time to time my cattle nibble the neighbors crops, which they find irritating and inconvenient. If this wasn't the case we would each have far less to complain about, and then where would we be?

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    2. Ah, so it's a symbiotic relationship, you annoy each other.

      Indeed, without anything to complain about, we would be skittish, expecting something bad to happen, the other shoe to drop, etc., etc.

      I'll tell the panzers to stand down...

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    3. Like the dog who caught the car, I'd have no idea what to do if I annexed the Nachbarland.

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  7. You might mention the location of the prairie dogs to your Badger.

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    1. Like France and England, they're talking big but substantively ignoring my pleas for assistance. It's football season after all.

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  8. Replies
    1. That's certainly a candidate for the thermobaric option.

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