The Official Critter Thread

Jim, I understand you must break eggs to make an omelette, decimating entire species is a different story. I am sure that your prairie dog plinking is harmless by and large. However, after witnessing the urban sprawl through this area throughout my lifetime I am a bit sad and pessimistic about the state of things.
 
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  • #128
Im sure it would be ugly for all parties involved, however it went down. I often wish I was one of those people, who when they see some f'd up chit go down, they can go up to the perp, and wearing a smile just have them see the light in a friendly, cool manner. The tool is enlightened, and the teacher continues on non plussed and stays out of jail.
 
cory said:
Jim, I thought you were indicating P dogs screw up the land somehow, what's up with dem dogs?
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They make s huge mess in the fields and create holes that cattle can break their legs on. I don't think humans will ever make a big enough dent in their population to make a difference. Like rats or house flies.
 
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  • #130
I'm guessing Jim will elucidate us re the 'harmful' things P dogs do to the surrounding environment. I hope he doesn't just dig them for target practice, period .
 
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  • #133
Prairie dogs exist on less than 1% of the Great Plains. Scientists say that if this downward trend continues, burrowing owls and other species will disappear.

Jim, cease ruining your environment. Shoot steel targets instead.
 
Ha! HSUS, the "fair and balanced" animal rights outfit!

We shoot them to control their numbers, and we dont make much headway. People have tried to poison them out, to no avail. The only thing that really affects P dogs is disease. Enough poison can do it, but it is a big flipping job, which no one wants anyway.

A dog town is a sight to behold. It is barren. Thats all that lives out there. Water runs off, dirt blows away, it holds no snow. Animals go around them. Drop a mouse in the middle and he will starve, if the dogs dont eat him first, which they will.

Thats not the point however. Sod poodles have been here for a long time, and thats how they conduct business. Live and let live, to a point.

When they start moving across the fence and lowering my property value, cutting my production, and creating a safety hazard......they get ventilated.

We have no interest what so ever in eradicating them. If we did, remember the wolves?, they would be gone. Simple as that. We exist with the prairie dog, and coyote, badger, weasel, fox, rabbit and so on. When those animals get too numerous we thin them a bit, if they still get too numerous, mother nature thins them a LOT.

So, thats how it works out here on the plains.

I have no idea about how urban prairie dogs work. But I suppose it would be fair for me to tell you folks to stop multiplying and to start living on top of one another. Tear out them golf courses,(except for Dave's) quit building homes in prairie dog country, and stay on your side of the fence. Mother Nature will thin you city folks out for sure if'n you dont smarten up.;)

The noble prairie dog is not threatened out here. Them silly little owls you speak of are doing okay too. I get a kick out of them.
 
Cory the figure does seem high however its hard to judge based on the vastness of the ocean combined with the population of Asia. I'd say its still feasible that there could be 8000 odd fisherman on the water at any one time, targeting sharks, averaging 1 per hour.
 
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  • #136
You may be right, Chris.

FFZ, it seems the truth lies somewhere in between the animal rights folks and you.

You mentioned badgers, do you have any good, or even so-so, badger stories?
 
What do you mean? I am telling the truth! Out here on the actual plains the prairie dog towns are growing every year.

The area of prairie dogs is supposedly 2 million acres. That does not mean they only range on two million acres of land. They dont range.

That is 2 million acres of nothing but prairie dogs stacked on top of each other. Thats a lot of bare dirt!

But sure, I would absolutely agree with you. There must be areas where prairie dogs are threatened. No one out here would be foolish enough to farm up a dog town.

I dont understand why this would be such a difficult idea though. I doubt anyone on this site would allow termites to turn his house to powder. I bet all of you would replace the windows and fix the roof after a bad hail storm. Would some of you just shrug your shoulders and say "oh, well. Thats nature for ya!"?

A wolf defends his range, a bear defends his fishing spot, a wasp defends her hive, an ant protects his aphids. I am just an animal defending his territory. A big silly animal.


Nothing too serious on the badger front. Had a horse go down with me from falling in a badger hole once.

Got the ever loving shit scared out of me while fixing fence one time. I am sure you know, but badgers make the most gawd awful strange noise when they come after you.

Its like some kind of Hollywood special effect. The noise kind of envelops you like a blanket, and you cant quite pinpoint where it is coming from. Its terrifying. Its like an evil hissing didgeridoo.

That bugger came for me and I could not see him. I just kind of stood there with my hands up on both sides of my face. Just like you see the women do in an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

I let out a whoop and picked a direction and ran away. They dont chase you for long, but when they do, they are open for business.

I watch them work in the dog town to the north of me once in a while. They will go about their business if you are three or four hundred yards away. Digging death machine.
 
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  • #138
FireFighterZero said:
Nothing too serious on the badger front.
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That's a none too serious story?? That was classic. This back easter knows nothing of the gawd awful strange noise they make.

So are you saying they wreak havoc on the P dogs? Is it like shooting fish in a barrel or do they have mixed results?
 
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  • #139
Btw I hope you are right about the growing population of p dogs. And yeah, we all try to kill termites, and if the p dogs are getting out of hand you gotta do what you have to do. But do ya have to take such delight in shooting them??!?
 
I think they have a pretty high success rate, but it takes a hell of a lot of effort to and energy to get one out.

Not sure how many they will eat in a day, probably only one. Unless they are nursing or something. They dig out rabbits and gophers too.

They have to get their prey into a corner or a dead end, otherwise the animal escapes out another tunnel.

I know that gophers will lead badgers down an escape tunnel and away from its young. I have seen a gopher get chased down a hole and then pop up a different hole, go down another and then emerge from yet a different hole with its young.


As far as taking such delight in their killing.....I dont know about that. It doesnt give me hardon or anything!

If the killing was the only was the only object, it would be much more efficient to poison them.

The satisfaction comes from making a long and difficult shot. With ammunition that I have made myself.

I could get closer and kill many more than I do, but that would take away the only advantage a prairie dog has......distance.
 
I feel bad when I kill things, even cool bugs.

A praying mantis made it's way in a while back... I tossed it outside.
 
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  • #144
I love big wolfy spiders.

Good answer, Jim, thanks.

I'd love to see a badger in action.
 
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  • #145
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G_Zu2js8MMo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I learnt yesterday that sausage dogs were specifically bred to hunt Badger.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eVS91IV1Yog" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I can't believe those little dogs thought they were going to do something to that badger.

Maybe a dozen of them!
 
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