Latest news with #prairiedogs
CBS News
27-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Colorado volunteers work to conserve prairie dog colony
Months of effort by neighbors in a Longmont community to save a prairie dog colony from extermination have paid off. The homeowner association board will soon decide whether the animals will be relocated or allowed to remain on the land. CBS In January, CBS Colorado spoke to neighbors in Harvest Junction Village, where the HOA was considering removing or exterminating a colony of prairie dogs. It had cited concerns over plant destruction and the animals encroaching on homes. At one point, the HOA voted to try relocation, and to exterminate the colony by March 1 if that effort was not successful. Activists spoke out that this would lead to the death of the animals, saying relocation is not possible until summer. But after continued pushback from neighbors, a new plan has been reached. "Big picture goal here is really to try and show that humans in close proximity can live at peace without conflict with local wildlife," said Mike MacFerrin, who lives in Harvest Junction Village. Dozens of neighbors donated their Memorial Day to the animals by building bridges and pulling weeds -- the first step in a plan that could keep the prairie dogs in their community. "This is gonna be a multiple day and multiple year process for the revegetation. This particular curly dock weed is extremely pernicious and persistent," MacFerrin said. "It's invasive. The prairie dogs don't eat it. .. And, as it gets taller, it forces them out." It's all to convince their HOA not to evict the prairie dogs living on a plot of open space near their homes. "This is my community, and I don't wanna spend several thousand dollars just to come out with poison gas trucks and kill everything," MacFerrin said. "We can do this a better way." After a community survey sent out by the activist neighbors found most responding residents did not want to kill the prairie dogs, or spend HOA money on management, the HOA board agreed to allow the neighbors to propose a long-term conservation plan. "Extermination is currently off the charts. Basically, our two options are relocation down to Pueblo or the conservation option," said Alex Pavloff, Harvest Junction Village HOA board member. These neighbors say keeping the prairie dogs around will be a win-win, and won't cost the HOA a cent. "We're out here doing the work," MacFerrin. "There's a lot of invasive weeds here that we're trying to get rid of that actually push the prairie dogs out." They're working with experts and nonprofits to draft the conservation plan, which includes not only weeding, but reseeding the land with native vegetation, and building a barrier fence to keep prairie dogs away from homes and the road. MacFerrin said reseeding and fencing can be expensive, so they're raising money to pay for those infrastructure changes through Grasslands Colorado. So far, they've raised more than $8,000. Among the volunteers are three HOA board members, who will have the ultimate say on whether the prairie dogs stay or are relocated. "This is a novel new way to manage prairie dogs on our Front Range," said Pavloff, who previously supported relocation. "I changed my mind really because of the fact that we have a good opportunity to try a new and novel method of prairie dog management." The neighbors will deliver the first draft of the master plan to the HOA next week. Their next meeting is scheduled on June 19. Neighbors say the final decision to conserve or relocate will need to be made in July, as relocation should begin in August. It's a plan the neighbors hope can be an example to other communities. "Just changing the narrative that you don't have to exterminate everything," MacFerrin said. "You don't have to just treat this like it's a second-rate golf fairway. You really can let nature thrive, and we can thrive with it."
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Horror as swarm of feral beasts dig up loved ones' graves in local cemetery
Residents in Wyoming are in uproar as feral animals in the area are digging up the graves of their loved ones in the local cemetery. Rawlins Cemetery has been plagued by a group of prairie dogs who have been digging in and around graves as locals are furious over the disturbance of their loved ones graves. Janice Martinez and her husband, who visit the cemetery every day, shared their anger over the dog holes across the grounds, Cowboy State Daily reported. In a Rawlins based Facebook group, Martinez wrote: 'I cannot believe the damage "ground squirrels" are causing to our cemetery. Maybe whoever's in charge of this should take a drive through the cemetery and take a look at the daily destruction these animals are doing.' In response to the issue, the City of Rawlins Government wrote in a Facebook post that its Park Division would be 'increasing efforts to control the ground squirrels.' 'Our priority is to create an environment where our loved ones' resting place is treated with respect. These animals have caused major damage to our cemetery,' the post said. 'Their burrows and tunnels create unstable ground, which then damages gravestones and irrigation. They are also very destructive to turf.' Some of the combative efforts that the city has said they plan to implement include tripling the number of T-trap bait stations for their annual placement of Rozol, which can be used to combat prairie dogs, rats and gophers. 'Rozol will be placed in the stations this spring and again in late summer,' the post added. The city furthered that risk toward 'non-target' species is being monitored. But the issue has stirred the local community and is a struggle known to many cemeteries. Darin Edmonds, superintendent of the Campbell County cemetery district, told the Cowboy State Daily: 'People get squirrely about anything digging underground where their loved ones are. 'Prairie dogs are a nuisance and their holes are unsightly, but it's one of those things that can happen in rural Wyoming.' Edmonds said that cemeteries in 'the middle of nowhere' often run into problems with persistent prairie dog digging. 'Prairie dogs probably do the most damage, visibly and physically, of any critter I've encountered,' he added. 'But in Wyoming, you're subject to the natural tendencies of wildlife.' After trials and failures to flood the dogs out, Edmonds said the most effective way to rid cemeteries of the issue is poison. 'Poisoning is probably the best remedy, fortunately or unfortunately,' he said. 'We went out to the extent of that environment, applied poison, and it seemed to work.' 'Prairie dogs are a nuisance and their holes are unsightly, but it's one of those things that can happen in rural Wyoming,' said Darin Edmonds 'You could try live trapping them, but the quickest, shortest and most effective remedy is to poison them.' The damage, however, remains a sore point for those with loved ones buried at Rawlins. Martinez told the outlet: 'I read the post about the new poisoning system. It breaks my heart to see graves being dug up, stones covered in dirt and new holes dug on a daily basis.'
