FWP Approves First Prairie Dog Conservation Contract

[Hammsolo]

Is the thought of livestock breaking legs in holes even a real thing? If it was you would think you’d see all sorts of wildlife in prairie dog country gimping around also

Is it like kids these days? There’s actual data showing that there have been negative effects of making playgrounds safer. Kids have soft stuff to bump into or fall on, rather than grinding gravel into their knee caps. Why worry?

 

[Hammsolo]

Me too! But isn’t that selfish?

Huh, could you explain? Are you saying that subdivisions aren’t selfish?

 

[shrapnel]

Why would you not want prairie dogs? Honestly asking, and not a loaded question. Why don’t they? Again just asking for information. I hunt ground squirrels for a friend on their cattle allotments. It gets me great practice and protects their cows and horses.

I’ve been doing some more reading and what I’m finding is that ground squirrels and prairie dogs are great for the wilder ecosystems. They aerate the soil and fertilize it and more.

Where’s the line with the public trust? Moose, deer, elk, coyote, fox, ferret, squirrel… I honestly don’t know.

I went past the Montana Prairie Dog Park on my way to Billings last week and took a picture of the ground that is now vacated by prairie dogs. I don’t know the reason, probably plague, because people weren’t allowed to shoot them.

This is typical of what destructive results are from prairie dogs once they are gone. The impact from their lifestyle of clearing all grass to the roots where they live, clearly destroys any grass from coming back once the prairie dogs are gone.

This may not concern you if you don’t own the land, but if you do and prairie dogs live there or leave there, they don’t do anything for the preservation of the soil or plant life, unless you are a weed.

The second picture is just down the road a half mile or so and the devastation from the prairie dogs is quite noticeable against the property that didn’t have any…

 

[ismith]

I went past the Montana Prairie Dog Park on my way to Billings last week and took a picture of the ground that is now vacated by prairie dogs. I don’t know the reason, probably plague, because people weren’t allowed to shoot them.

This is typical of what destructive results are from prairie dogs once they are gone. The impact from their lifestyle of clearing all grass to the roots where they live, clearly destroys any grass from coming back once the prairie dogs are gone.

This may not concern you if you don’t own the land, but if you do and prairie dogs live there or leave there, they don’t do anything for the preservation of the soil or plant life, unless you are a weed.

The second picture is just down the road a half mile or so and the devastation from the prairie dogs is quite noticeable against the property that didn’t have any…



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There are some prairie dog patches close to my place, looks like the ground was salted.

 

[Eric Albus]

We've poured a bunch of money into keeping black-footed ferrets from going extinct, without figuring out how to deal with the primary problem: loss of groceries (ie prairie dogs). I agree with Ben2 that it's good, creative conservation to try to incentivize growing some prairie dogs, instead of trying to get it all done via regulations. I'm interested to see how this one works out.

if they could just make the coyotes understand ferrets are endangered

 

[Forkyfinder]

if they could just make the coyotes understand ferrets are endangered

Coyotes are killing the ferrets?

 

[ismith]

Coyotes are killing the ferrets?

What don’t coyotes kill?

 

[Forkyfinder]

What don’t coyotes kill?

Government subsidies?

 

[Ought Six]

I had 12 different towns to shoot growing up within walking distance of our house. Shoot one, go to the next. Great year-round recreation.

Saw a few livestock with broken legs in the middle of the towns over the years. Can’t confirm if it was pdog caused though.

 

[Eric Albus]

Coyotes are killing the ferrets?

Yes , coyotes were killing the ferrets. Hence my friend(the biologist) got to ride in the the chopper and shoot coyotes.

This friend was the one who 30 yrs ago recommended to the R6 head that something needs done for the mule deer management (or lack there of) so he got sentenced to ferret management.

 

[Hammsolo]

Yes , coyotes were killing the ferrets. Hence my friend(the biologist) got to ride in the the chopper and shoot coyotes.

This friend was the one who 30 yrs ago recommended to the R6 head that something needs done for the mule deer management (or lack there of) so he got sentenced to ferret management.

Boooooo

 

[Forkyfinder]

Yes , coyotes were killing the ferrets. Hence my friend(the biologist) got to ride in the the chopper and shoot coyotes.

This friend was the one who 30 yrs ago recommended to the R6 head that something needs done for the mule deer management (or lack there of) so he got sentenced to ferret management.

Damn it.

Guess I'm going back to school- shooting Coyotes from a choppers way better than this gig!

 

[Ben Lamb]

Yes , coyotes were killing the ferrets. Hence my friend(the biologist) got to ride in the the chopper and shoot coyotes.

This friend was the one who 30 yrs ago recommended to the R6 head that something needs done for the mule deer management (or lack there of) so he got sentenced to ferret management.

I saw Ferret Management open for the Clash inside a disused freezer box next to a defunct microbrewery in Ryegate in 1973. Highly recommend.

 

[mtmiller]

Yes , coyotes were killing the ferrets. Hence my friend(the biologist) got to ride in the the chopper and shoot coyotes.

This friend was the one who 30 yrs ago recommended to the R6 head that something needs done for the mule deer management (or lack there of) so he got sentenced to ferret management

There was coyote aerial gunning south of you in the late-90s and early 2000s when I was on that project. Those coyotes were collected for evidence of plague, canine distemper and tuleremia as part of the USFWS requirement for bff reintroductions. There were a handful of coyotes removed post-release from 30 day temporary electric fence for terrestrial predators such as coyotes and badgers. Occasionally when fencing thousands of acres, a coyote would be in the fenced area. IIRC, a couple were removed aerially and a couple ground gunning.

When I was involved with similar reintroductions in SD, leg hold traps were used to collect coyotes for similar serological evidence of exposure.

As for shooting coyotes specifically for killing ferrets, that didn't happen. Coyotes were collected pre release. Now I "might" say, a few GHOs may have been removed when radio collars were found at perch sites outside MT.

On another note, there were a few of us that felt removal of coyotes prior ferret release was not in the best interest for the reintroduction, but again, it was a requirement.

 

[shrapnel]

Some more management results. Prairie dogs, 63; Ferrets and coyotes 0...