The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-08-15


SEE IA svoRkLlFE To-
aETHER OF HE PRAIRIE
poG, IN owl AND THE 81
ssFsATTLEsNAkE ON THE
al RE:
slmciaI Prairie Dog Externinato
It'll 81 ven by he Legislature
;5sFpf Kansas#t oS d. r. y Lantz, of Manhat.
an, Kansas. r. Lantz's duties are
devise means Of killing off mil
lions III prairie dogs that infest the
tern part Of the State, says
ne few ork IN
zS inceAWestern Kansas was set
the prairie dog has been pic
sStHrasqne pest. He has devastated
mil ions OF acres of land and has been
NJ Nj che ndirectSmeans of killing hundreds
sss OF head OF valuable live stock.
He had been hunted and scalded,
poisoned and conjured ); but he has
81 liYed merrily through it all, and null
iplie dsat a rate that even the prolific
s5 aft en- two years Of experiment the
tate Agricultural college hit upon
poison which when properly and
tactfuIly used-for the prairie dog is
Keen rascal and not easily deceived
warranted to lay low the hardest
dog tnat8eVers barked defiance to his
s$foes. $ 35
This poison is thoroughly mixed
grain, but the same kind must
never be used twice, else the dogs
ina escaped the#frst bait will ignore
he second spoonful Of it is put
the entrance of every hole. The
Insuspectingd dog. coming out to feed,
finds his meal awaiting him. After
u gniIeIess1y partaking of it, he hurried
retreats to his burrow, to die alone.
A dead prairie dog is never found on
Of the ground:
4s # AIr.2sfLantz reports that during the
q past two years the State has con-
nine and over half q ton of potassium
eganid Il IN manufacturing the poison.
ronn@6 100, 600 to 100000 acres of land
formerly infested with the prairie
dogs have been entirely reclaimed,
SsghIle partial destruction of them
4 has been accomplished over much
ssSSlarger area Including some of the
best falfa ranches in the State.
Only since Alfalfa growing reached
It present proportions in Western
Kansas has the prairie dog problem
been such a grave one. Prior to that
" he and was hardly worth the trouble
ofS driving out the invaders.
N is impossible even to estimate
accurately the vast number of dogs
that form "a single town. On the |
in Scott county, owned by c. S. |
Gilbert of Wichita, there is single |
which covers $50 acres The
houses average 700 to the acre. and
each house Isl known to contain not
less han FIVE dogs. This would
B bring the population of this single
10 up to something like 1,225,0oo.
10 say nothing Of a full complement
IN owls and rattlesnakes.
That prairie dogs, owls and rattle
1 snakes live together in the same holes
well known The assertion is Of
55sts,rl made that they are a happy fam
si - pursuing a peacefully Hve-and-let-
live policy, and doing cooperative
housekeeping on an ideal basis.
ss8 his is far from being the case The
dogs and the owls live in peace to-
$gether, though the owl is a lazy fell
low, and the dogs have to do all the
work. # But the snakes are interopers,
hated and feared alike by owl and
dog, getting their living from the Off
spring of their hosts, and doing alb
solureIy nothing in return for the ia
Iiyors shown them.
a all the Inhabitants of these pop
Iilous cities the dogs come first. and
do all the work. digging out the
holes building a firm hollow cone
around the opening to serve alike
as Il protection and as a point of van
5tage in viewing the remainder OF the
town, and later building the mystic
cnsunderground water works and
drainage system that is SO complete
and amazing in its ingenuity.
#Ss Each hole connects with these lat.
erals. which often underlie the city to
sa#depth of from 40 to 100 feet if it is
necessary to go down SO far for water.
Each house also connects with every
other house, SO that the person who
puts buckets of waite. ii { hole az
ter retreating dog, and then waits to