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Show SnjwiTO Little J Prairfe Bsff r i ' ' ' . . "-'a T . s - r ' , , v C" . - v ' ? , : ! . 4 - f -. I , ? f .' RWJjTZ7 OS StSlTOSVSU. SOyVjTtSr ATTEMPTS made last spring at. poisoning prairie dogs in national na-tional forests on an extensive scale seem to have been highly high-ly successful in ridding selected select-ed areas of these small pests, and plans are now being made to carry on the work much more widely next year. The first experiments in this line were made in New Mexico by a stockman stock-man who has since entered the forest service. In 1901, Dr. C. Hart Mer-riarn, Mer-riarn, chief of the division of biological survey of the department of agriculture, agricul-ture, made a report upon "The Prairie Dog of the Great Plains," in which the damage done by the dogs was pointed cut, and various methods of poisoning them were suggested. This report of Doctor Merriam's may be said to have blazed the way for practical prac-tical work in prairie dog extermination. extermina-tion. Prairie dogs are very obnoxious to the stockmen, for they- devour much grass and undermine the surface of the ground w-ith their burrows. Where they establish themselves the destruction destruc-tion of the range is only a question of time. Range improvement in national forests for-ests is one of the chief objects of regulating reg-ulating the grazing. For this reason the forest service is leaving no stone unturned to prevent range deterioration. deteriora-tion. Stockmen who had suffered heavily from the prairie dog pest were solicitous to have the work taken up, and gladly offered to co-operate with the service in furnishing men and borses to distribute the poison. To ascertain what success could be had in ridding considerable areas of the pest, a selection was made of parts of the Leadvilie and Pike national forests, for-ests, which were badly infested. The region in these forests upon which the dogs were located aggregated 300 square miles or more. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the work, an area of some 60 or 70 thousand thou-sand acres of actual dogtown was selected se-lected for the test. From 80 to 90 per cent, of the dogs were killed with the first distribution of the poison. It will be necessary to go over the ground a second time and by "spotting" the occupied holes the remaining dogs will easily be killed with a very small amount of the poisoning matertatr-The average cost per acre for the poisoning poison-ing material was only one and one-half one-half cents, and even then it was found that more material had been used than was necessary. The poison is prepared by coating wheat with a preparation of strychnine, strych-nine, cyanide of potassium, anise oil and molasses. When a sufficient quantity quan-tity is ready, the poisoned wheat is carried to the field of operations. There the stockmen supply men and horses, the wheat is given out to the riders, and distribution begins. Each rider carries the wheat in a tin pail supported by a gunny sack slung acrosB his right shoulder and hanging at his left side. His left hand is free for the reins. With his right hand he uses a tablespoon to measure out the poison and drop it near the entrance of the holes. A little lit-tle practise enables the men to drop the wheat while keeping their horses at a sharp trot. By crossing the town, to and fro, like a man sowing grain, they can cover a large area in a surprisingly sur-prisingly short time. The action of the poison is almost Instantaneous. Most of the prairie dogs in a town are dead within an hour or two after the bait is dropped. The work is considered to have demonstrated dem-onstrated the entire feasibility of fighting fight-ing the prairie dogs in this way. It was found, however, that to be successful suc-cessful the poison must be scattered in the spring, when the dogs first come out from their winter quarters and before the green grass is offered to appease their hungry appetites. Next spring the poisoning will be undertaken un-dertaken much more extensively. A well-known stockman in northern Arizona Ari-zona writing to the forest service of his stock range on the great Canyon Diablo plateau, says: "Five years ago such a thing as a prairie dog was unknown un-known here. Two years ago there were a few widely distributed over the range. Last year they became numerous, nu-merous, in fact, quite common. If something is not promptly done to de stroy them they will do great harm to the range." It is expected that the campaign against the dogs in the Arizona and New Mexico forests will be most successful, suc-cessful, as it has met with universal favor among the stockmen who are giving every assistance to the forest service men. Stockmen and others who wish to try the poisoning on their own account ac-count can obtain the formula for its preparation and direction for its use from the district forester at Albuquerque, Albu-querque, New Mexico, or from the for est service, Washington. |