The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-06-22
A PEST OF PRAIRIE DOGS.
They Are a Nuisance to West
ern Kansas Farmers,
A VERY KEEN CREATURE.


dreds of Acres-How the Little
Pests Are Treated-The Sand Hill
Owl.
The farmers of western Kansas
have on their hands new plague,
that Of the prairie dog. Thousands
of the odd little creatures have been
captured and taken East for show
purposes, but the people of the plains
have come to consider them a nuis-
ance. 1t is no unusual thing to see q
town that is collection of holes all
Inhabited by the dogs, which covers
a whole section of land, a space a
mile square. AS a result the vegeta-
tion is eaten down to the bare earth,
and the land becomes valueless for
the cattle men. Then the animals
make foraging trips into the grain
near by, and cause much damage in
that way.
The prairie dog is small, scarcely
larger than very large rat some
times, but he Is very keen-witted
creature. When the growth of grain
or grass seems likely to cause him
trouble in seeing approaching visitors,
he straightway proceeds to cut it
down. He goes into the millet and
corn fields and nihble at the grain
near the bottom Of the stalks, and the
tall grain tumbles as if it were cut
by a machine. The prairie dog does
not eat the grain he cuts. but seems
to wish it out of the way in order that
the lookoutS posted around every
town may see if strangers are ap-
preaching.
Every town SENS to be laid out with
care, and there is in each a central
hole which is dug down until it
reaches water. Sometimes it Is nee
essary to dig for scores of feet, but the
little animals never falter, and they
are always supplied with this needful
adjunct to their dwelling places. 1t
is perhaps because of the difficulty
Of digging these wells that the ami.
mails extend the boundaries of their
towns rather than start new ones.
Certain it is that they are all the
time branching out and some of the
towns cover hundreds of acres. They
have grown amazingly since the OPEN
ing OF the West to settlement, both
because of the added supply of food
that came from the scattering of grain
and because many of the wild animals
that preyed on them nave been swept
away. Now the problem Of caring
for them is up to the farmer, and he
looks at it much as the Eastern man
does at that of the English sparrow.
j. b. Perry, of Oberlin, one of the
leading farmers of northwest Kansas,
tells of his experience in this matter:
81 had town of two sections on my
land, and there was so steady
growth that l was In danger of losing
the most valuable part of the farm.
The pasture was ruined, and the grain
adjoining the town on all sides was
destroyed far into the fields. l soaked
q lot of corn in arsenic solution and
eACh "Nht oAOhS lnC lOnu Will
hired men, taking regular beats until
we had gone over it all, putting in
each hole a portion of the poisoned
grain. We covered the hole as we
went along, the task being slow
one, to be sure, but thorough. The
animals seemed to eat the grain, for
fully two-thirds Of the holes were
never opened. The dogs ate the corn
and died in their homes. Then we
went over the land again and went
through the same process, and by this
time killed off the greater portion of
the dogs remaining. l found it the
only way to get rid Of them, and
though it will be long time before
the land is as good as before, because
of the poor earth that was brought to
the surface by the digging of the ami.
mails, it will eventually regain it's
strength"
Another. method of treating the
pests is to use bi-sulphide of carbon,
saturating a piece of cotton with the
fluid and dropping it in the hole,
which is then covered. The gases
from the solution make the animals
scarce in a short time. With this
remedy there is danger Of poisoning
other animals, and the farmers are
afraid of 1t. Strychnine solution and
corn are a common combination, and
this is dropped in the holes as before.
The farmers of northwest Kansas
are considering a convention to dis
cuss the best and surest means of
getting rid Of the pests. The theory
that the sand hill owl is a dweller in
the hole with the prairie dog and
there exists a happy family arrange
ment is fatty disproved by frequent
Investigation. The owls live in de-
serted holes sometimes as do the rat.
tlesnakes Of the uplands, but they are
not at home when the snappy little
prairie dog is making himself numer-
rs.