New-York tribune., 1908-09-06
PRAIRIE DOG PESTS
Federal Government Undertakes En-.
tinction of Little Animals.
from The Tribune Bureau


washington Aug 30.-NerciIsssly, but unostents
,,o,s,,, TTnc1s Sam has been on the warpath INF,
summer and more wholesale murder has been ths
.u,t than at any time IN the history OF the
trv ttnce the ruthless extinction OF the buffalo tns
savage onsIaughts the boil WeevH or tne stra-
,seic advances on the deadly mosquito This savags
,varfar. has not been waged with powder and
-. -. -t,b z,n,btIe poison and the victims havs
not been men or rattlesnakes. but the pretty and
apparently harmless prairie dogs
TIL. domestic dog may lay claim this year 70 sns
h.-dsst surnn,er that has ever been experienced
nv the canine tribe, because Of the hydropnona
.cares. the nluzzlIng laws and the deadly bullet
hut hard as has been the lot Of the city Rover u
-. bae, a naradtss compared 70 that OF tas
pratrte dog. who has completely lost faith In nu-
man. since the federal government began IA Forx
Of discriminating whole communities OF tnsse
sportive creatures. All this has corne aoou- nos
because the prairie dog IS subject to rabies and
needs a nauzzIe but because he burrows INTO ne
>sr,fI. land of the praIrfes underines tbs choicest
As,ds Of the farmer eats the bluest grasses and "a
many other ways makes himself oonoNous 70 .l'
Western agriculturist. who is more concerned w,'n
the success OF his than with the tFcAs Oh nS
pesttferous neignborS -.
The Department OF Agriculture. quick 70 aio ta'
farmer In every possible way. took q nand IN tno
matter this summer and after trying several othsf
wavs Of annihiIation. decided that poison was ms
most practicable means Of Kidding the soI OF H'
nests with the result that nearly a million Vleuns
fell at the hands of the official executioners. ms
dogs are victims of their own appetitles ana pa
donable ignorance these faults. according TO tasf
s,avers making them likely to become as rare as
the dodo bird and perhaps limit their field OF acus
ity hereafter to the various geological PARKS
The Drafrfe dog has made himself htndranee %
the march Of civilization with his undeTslOuHA
habits and his omnivorous appetite ne mas lA'sl
fered with the great industry of agriculture ana %
he cannot adapt himself TO the ways OF c1vlhzanOn
he must die 1t is probable that the prairie US
feels that he must live and that he must eat ~
likes grasses and grass roots. ana hdS @4"-
made his home under the ground he mas no VoT. N
Germ as whether he digs under hne
or sheaf of blooming wheat He has oeen eae,-s ~
for centuries undisturbed. and this ne" GonoiI'-
alarms him, but he stays on
~ the prairie dog chooses spot that appear
suitable for a pleasant home, he gathers MS Us ~ -
and kin and in comparatively snort lliAo "a
tribe has multiplied at compounded rales - -.
solid acres are not commOdiOus enough ~. -
family They make the soil almost useless -A
holes are connected by miniature tunheIs, 81 - -
while the ground may appear soIld' II - =. -
unsafe and dangerous TO 1ran and beast Ine usai i
of many riders the plains IS silent
to the inquity of the prairie dog -,
The stcckmen of the West urged the Dspa's -
of Agriculture TO take some measures 10 ehe0A =
increasing annoyances from the dogs anu '- =
lentIess warfare followed Range mproNsii~ -
national forests IS of the chief ooJec'S u -
ing regulation and the forest service was 80 80,
with tie work of determination. The nIs' - 49,.
n1ents were made in parts OF Leadvl1e anu -
national forests. where the prairie doss p0R' so,
a territory of three hundred square niles -
town of seventy-fve acres was seiecteu anu -.
was prepared by coating wheat WIN So $50
solution made aluring by mOlasses and ahiss T-s.
combination which no prairie dog can Tes'1 -
poisoned wheat was placed at the mouth % -
hole and the men became so expert q 49,,
work that they could ride along on hoEse ~
: the death dealer with great rapdity- ,.,.
When the first night came and the soun1 ~.
horses hoofs no longer disturbed the NhasN "a
town fathers popped teir heads out OF Ihe h, ,,,
after a survey of the ground saw that tie ~,
had disappeared ShrilI shrieks OF dshsA' - a
from a hundred families when it was seen ,yu-
! meal was already prepared Without leai -, an
gry dogs pounced on the wheat. and IN ls7 .,sss
hour the population OF the town hAu
/ about 80 per cent. - ,s,st o.
The crafty who escaped the MS -. Killed
! those who were not hungry at that time, .rors
on the second trip of the forestsrs' anu - ,osas
! time every dog was dead. The action y - tsns
! Is almost instantaneous. the dogs nO' - Sezs
\ 20 crawl into their holes after Ie4sN s,,a tns
/ spriug the forest service promises 10 b
| killing business on a larger scale