Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1900-04-09
A PEST OF PRAIRIE DOGS
FARMS IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
ABANDONED BECAUSE OF THEM.


'HERE has been such an in
crease in the number of prairie
dogs in the panhandle section
& of Texas during the past few
years that many. farms will have to be
abandoned unless some method of ex :
terminating the pest is adopted soon
These little animals have multiplied
many fold since the country has be-
coine settled up with stockmen and
farmers. The other wild animals,
such as coyotes and wolves, have been
driven out and the prairie dogs now
have undisputed sway. In some parts
of the panhandle there are colonies of
prairie dogs which literally overrun
the country. There are often as MAN. y
as 5000 of them found occupying few
acres of ground. The cultivation of
wheat around Abilene AID other local.
ties of the panhandle is seriously i'm
peded by the destruction wrought by
tie little animals. 1t frequently hap
pens that colonies of the prairie dogs
are established right in the center of
large wheat field and the animals
forage on tho growing grain, COM
pletely destroying the crop.
Many farmers and stockmen have
undertaken the task of exterminating
the prairie dogs on their own land.
Among these who have made O war
against the pest is Frank Sterret, a
prominent stockman of Abilene. Last
year he expended $500 in extermin-
ating prairie dogs Oh his ranch. All
of the dogs on about sixty sections of
land were killed. This year he re-
ports that the dogs have invaded the
land from the adjoining territory on
all sides, and he will have to do some
more slaughtering of the animals
around the outer edges. He claims
that the money expended in killing
the animals is good Investment; as
the increase in the yield of grass COM
pensates for the outlay. The favorite
method of killing the dogs on farms
where live stock is not running at
large is bypoison. A Astockman living
at Sweetwater invented trap for
catching the animals several months
ago and it is rapidly coming into gen.
eral use. This trap is placed over the
holes made by the animals and cap
lures them when they come to the
surface. Thousands of live dogs have
been captured in this manner and in
some places they are skinned and their
skins marketed in st. Louis and Chi
cago for good prices.
LEGISLATION is PROPOSED.
The fact that thousands of acres of
grass aud growing farm products are
annually destroyed by tho pests caused
a strong effort to be made at the last
session of the State Legislature to pro-
vide for the determination of the oni-
mails in the State. This bill made it
the duty of the owners of land to kill
all the dogs on their property and
when they failed to do so the work
was to be done under the direction of
the Board of County Commissioners
and the cost of same charged as tax
against the owner of the property.
The west and southwest Texas mem
bers of the Legislature favored the
passage of the bill, but it was opposed
by the east Texas members. There
are no prairie dogs in east Texas and
the representatives in the Legislature
from that part of the State were un-
able to take the bill seriously. The
determination measure will come up
again for consideration at the next
regular session of the Legislature and
it is believed that it will be passed.
IT is .conservatively estimated that in
some sections of the panhandle coun-
try fully fifty per cent. of the grass
and agricultural crops are destroyed
each year by the animals.
The prairie dog:is remarkable aui.
NAL in many respects. 1t is of very
domestic nature. They live in colonies
OF from 500 to 5000 Inhabitants. They
live in holes which are usually from
fifteen to twenty-five feet deep. They
are careful to have all their living
holes in dry soil. There is one hole
in each colony which goes down to
water and some of these water holes
have been known to be over 200 feet
deep. The animals are so alert and
wary that it is almost impossible to
shoot them even at close range.
SHIPPED AS SQUIRRELS TO CHICAGO.
1t is claimed by those who have
tasted the flesh of the animal that
they are good to eat and that the meat
very much resembles that of the
squirrel in taste. 1t is said that but
for their uusavory name the little ami
mails would lie in demand in the game
markets of the country. Some years
ago, Immediately after the construc.
tion of the Fort Worth & Denver CITY
Railroad through the panhandle, a
young man from Chicago got stranded
at Quanah while making his way from
Fort Worth to Denver looking for Il
job. He was waiting to catch q
freight train at the little town and
took walk through the surrounding
country to kill time pending the ar
rival OF his train. He came upon a
large colony of prairie dogs and, be-
ing of an inventive turn of mind and
in needy circumstances, the thought
occurred to him that the little animals
m inht l,a tho y,aono Of furp;eh;, l. -