The Little River news., 1920-06-09
WAR ON RODENTS RATING OF CITIES.
Good Work Done by United
 States Biological Survey.
Stockmen of the West Apparently Do Not Realize the Enormous Loss Caused by the Activity of the
 Little Pests.

The great gray wolf has slain his thousands, but the prairie dog has slain his tens of thousands. Thus might the story of Saul and David be paraphrased on the great open ranges of the West, where there is no home ward lea for the lowing herds and where the sheep are not gathered at twilight into the sheepfold.
 There was time now happily fad ing into the dim past, when predatory animals destroyed live stock to the value of $2O000,OOO year, but every year, down to the present time. rodents destroy on these same ranges forage that would be worth S15O,0OO.0O0 a year as pasture for cattle and sheep destruction of that much potential live stock value. These figures were brought out by the United States bio logical survey recently. The purpose of the comparison, primarily, was to convince live stock men of the range country of the necessity of closer and more active co-Operat tion with the gov ernment fn the destruction of such TO- dents as the prairie dog. the ground squirrel, the jack rabbit and the pocket gopher
 It is estimated that each wolf on the range destroys not less than $1.OOO worth of stock each year, and these 2.0OO wolves. if they had not been de- stroyed would mean loss of not less than 5000 900 to the stockmen annu- ally. Other great stock loss would have been caused by the 240 mountain lions and great numbers of other pred atOry animals that have been killed. All this saving is perfectly apparent to the stoclmen and they have not stinted money in aiding the work. States. communities and associations of individuals have made liberal ap- prOpriations to supplement those made by tie federal government
 But the losses from rodents, great as they are. have never been so strik- ingly apparent. The rodent is indiVid- ually insignificant and comparatively few stockmen realize the value of the forage destroyed by the multiplied millions of them. The prairie dog alone occupies more than 10O0O0,00O acres of the best range land in the Rocky mountain region, and his range is oyer Tapped in places by the ground squir- rel. gopher and rabbit. The prairie dog destroys from 10 to 75 per cent of the grass in any territory it occupies It has been estimated by experts that the ranges of New Mexico would sup port 100000 more. cattle or 1,50OOOO more sheep than at present if the prairie-dog pest could be altogether re- moved.
 One of the simplest methods used by the biological survey to destroy TO- dents is to mix a Strychnine paste with oats or other grain and spread the mix ture in the neighborhOOd of their holes, or in places where they are in the hab- it of feeding. Of course suitable pre- cautions must be taken to see that cat tie and other stock do not get any of the poisoned grain. Using this method, one man in Arizona treated in one day 32O acres. Eighty quarts Nf poiaoned oats were used the total cost, includ- ing labor. being $9.79. As a result of this, 1.G50 dead prairie dogs were col Iected from this area, but the number Killed undoubtedly was much larger, since large proportion of the animals die in the burrows.-Robert II. Moul- ton, in Pennsylvania Grit.