Prairie dogs compete with livestock for forage. They clip vegetation to maintain a view of their surroundings and eat the same grasses that would otherwise be available for cattle and horses. Over long periods of prairie dog activity grass species which ranchers find most desirable can disappear. They are often replaced with less palatable grass species with lower nutritional value. In farmed ground prairie dogs can decimate or destroy a crop of alfalfa, grains or hay.
People also compete with prairie dogs for shelter.
No government-sponsored campaign against the prairie dogs has been necessary to insure the dominance of human uses in our towns and cities. Once prairie dogs are removed, the habitat is changed to such a degree prairie dogs usually don't have the opportunity or ability to reestablish themselves. Long before the environmental problems of urban growth, naturalists marveled at the interesting habits of prairie dogs. In 1742 French explorers came upon them while traveling in the Dakotas and dubbed them le petit chien , the little dog. Curious members of the explorers' party were surprised to find that they could repeatedly empty barrels of water into a prairie dog hole without filling it.