Comments on: Prairie Dogs and Water

By: rdennis

rdennis — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:08:48 +0000

Jane, you may well be so. Have you ever killed anything to make your life easier? such as a fly or mosquito? Mouse or a rat?

Yes, everything has it’s place. Most are to be food for others. On second thought, we all are. Cycle of life an all that.

When something is endangering you or your livelyhood, you will take measures to stop the threat. One way or another.

My giving you a ranchers viewpoints is one way I do that.

By: Jane

Jane — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:29:34 +0000

I don’t buy that there are any ‘pests’ in the world.. except, maybe the human kind.
Everything - even mosquitoes - have a purpose, and are food for fish and birds.
Have you ever read Patrick D. Smith? I would highly recommend his books Forever Island and Allapattah. Incredible.

By: Mattenylou

Mattenylou — Sat, 03 May 2008 18:17:02 +0000

Oh my… Do I have to worry about all those prairie dogs drowning when it rains? I guess I spend too much time worrying about all furry friends. Here in western Massachusetts, there has been a big problem with Fisher Cats attacking and killing dogs and cats… Also coyotes are everywhere, even in the very populated areas.

By: Paula in BC

Paula in BC — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:08:22 +0000

Thanks for this, Alice! It’s really interesting research that I hadn’t heard of before. as with everything, balance seems to be key :D.

By: rdennis

rdennis — Sat, 03 May 2008 12:54:57 +0000

We have buffalo on public land in SD.

I would think most wouldn’t want buffalo because of the danger from them and the expensive fencing it would cost.

Keystone species huh? How about free roaming indians also?

How far back do you want to take it? Jurrasic period?

By: Alice

Alice — Fri, 02 May 2008 23:29:20 +0000

Question: How does all this water get into the ground from all those holes that are all mounded up? Have you ever been to a prairie dog town?Water would have to get pretty deep to enter the holes that are mounded up at le3ast a foot high.

Check the dyed cross section again–this is an iconic photograph–and you’ll see that water moves through macropores built by tunneling invertebrates, and by roots. Water doesn’t flow in through the entrance of the prairie dog holes, but their underground towns channel water because the soil in their towns are honeycombed with macropores… which happens because the insect populations are much higher than the surrounding grasslands… which is why intensive grazing does not have the same effect on the water cycle. The web of life in a prairie dog town is much denser than on grasslands, and it moves water down to the groundwater.

I don’t think you should be required to host prairie dogs on private land. But this keystone species should be allowed to live on public land. I feel the same way about buffalo, another species that we’ve taken down to 1 or 2% of their original population, and still won’t allow on public land.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:19:12 +0000

One last point, I’d like to see the real thing that the painting shows. But the sad truth is, there will never be grass that tall around where that many dogs are.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:16:53 +0000

“The soils in prairie dog towns are moister than the soils in the surrounding grasslands, and higher in organic matter. This may account for the increased populations of tunneling insects and worms that honeycomb the soil profile in a prairie dog town.”

This is probably due to all the graze kept short so that the water goes into the soil and doesn’t run off or evaporate. In other words, intensive grazing. Just as many of us do with our cattle.The dogs want it short for the young tender grasses that come up. Also they want it short so that predators can’t seek up on them.

I have a neighbor with a dog town. I go there fairly often. As they use up all the feed on the inside area they move to the outside are, as do all grazing animals. The center remains used up, with weeds and barren as they expand outward.

Those who enjoy these cute little creatures should get some and put them in their back yard lawn.

But I bet most won’t. They just want ranchers to run them on their land. They don’t want to be bothered with them. Kind of like the guy who left the horse near your area that you guys fed.

By: rdennis

rdennis — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:10:05 +0000

Okay Alice, explain why it didn’t work in this area in the dense clay soils. Like down in the Badlands National Monument.

I am sure there are benefits to all living creatures. Even flies and mosquito’s. Bet everyone wants them gone tho’, don’t they?

We have over a half million acres of prairie dogs in my state alone. How many do we need?

By: Alice

Alice — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:58:59 +0000

RDennis wrote”I think much of what you posted is old, out of date info.” Au contraire, this is up-to-the-minute. Short circuit bypass flow through macropores was first pictured in the 1990s and is still not included in most analyses of water movement.