Colorado B.S. Thread

When I first moved to Lafayette there was very little development. Every night I'd hear coyotes, I'd see tons of owls and other birds of prey.

Now with all the development that has occurred in the past 10 years... I've never seen an owl, barely see hawks and hear the coyotes maybe 3 times a year.

Removing a major food source definitely has its impact on the predators.

As far as the plague... it's extremely rare for a human being to contract the disease from a prairie dog. I think there is less than 4 cases per year, tops. And those cases involve symptoms/severity far less than the common flu.

There are far more pressing diseases to be concerned about.

 

This is definitely a big issue.

There's a horse farm (? whatever the term is) across the road from me. If your property has prairie dogs on it that pose such a problem, then obviously you need to get rid of them.

Problem I see with said property is they poisoned/removed all the prairie dogs years ago and filled all the holes. A couple of years later it looks no different than it originally was.

 

Yeah I did mine on Sunday and also fertilize the lawn. Hopefully it turns green again.

 

Nobody is saying to eradicate the prairie rat from the face of the earth. They have their place... in nature. If you wanted to keep hearing owls or seeing predators there's plenty of mountain property available. Getting rid of prairie rats near populated areas is a good idea for various reasons. Hunting them for sport on farm and ranches where they cause more harm then good shouldn't be frowned upon. Protecting & caring for wild areas where they can live and go about their prairie rat business should be the focus. Funny how most wild lands are cared for by money raised from hunters and fisherman and yet the very people who want to save the wildlife and wild areas are also anti-gun. Who's going to save them then. Oh, right tax payers. Because that's a magical bottomless barrel of money to be spent on whatever makes the world a better place. I digress. If someone wants to shoot prairie rats and finds a farmer/rancher that finds them a nuisance I see no crime being committed. If a group of professionals wants to exterminate a town of them near a populated area to eliminate disease carriers & the predators that would eat them near humans I see no crime being committed. If the health and safety of human beings is being criminalized in favor of protecting a small group of these vermin... well, I see a problem with that.

 

I've been mowing, fertilizing & watering for over a month now you slackers!

 

Many animals carry diseases. Should we rid our communities of them too?

And I won't even begin to touch the liberal boogeyman that infiltrates your post.

 

Many domesticated animals?

 

Is it your contention that there is now a shortage of prairie rats in Lafayette?

I totally get that there has been a lot of development and that there are less owls, hawks and coyotes.

I think there's a logical disconnect in play if you think that those predators have moved out because someone killed some prairie rats.

Land development by humans does not seem to have a very detrimental affect on the prairie rat population at all. If anything, I would guess that the opposite of your contention is true.
In other words, the development drove out the predators that would have normally culled the prairie rat population and that has allowed the rat population to get out of control.

I can show you all sorts of highly developed areas where a vacant lot surrounded by development is filled with prairie rats.

 

We're talking about wildlife, no?

 

Actually, I thought the topic was someone asking where he could shoot prairie dogs.

 

Predators have moved out for various reasons. Land development and lack of prey being two of them.

I'm pretty sure prairie dog populations are down in the developed area, however rabbit populations in neighborhoods have exploded.

 

Did you ever read the stories about the re-introduction of Wolves to Yellowstone and all the resulting improvement in the Environment. Was really eye opening for me.

 

Prairie dogs are wildlife, no?

 

Yeah, it is awesome. Didn't read it, but I watched it.

And speaking of good reads and Yellowstone. Read "Playing God in Yellowstone: The Destruction of America's First National Park."

It basically proposes that the people "protecting" the park are actually destroying it. In order to try and "preserve" nature you inhibiting nature from actually regulating itself... which is crucial. And that is creating a major imbalance within the park.

 

Where did I say they weren't? You're the one talking about all this scourge of wild animals in our neighborhoods that are carrying disease and attracting predators.

Again, as I already stated, this topic was about someone asking where they could shoot prairie dogs. Not sure why you felt the need to turn it into some political debate. The very fact that something like prairie dogs is a political topic speaks volumes about the state of our current political dealings.

 

I had a Prairie Dog run out in front of me while riding my cyclocross. Much like on Premium Rush, I went through many options in my head of the multiple outcomes, the worst case was a front tire strike and me hitting my head on the pavement. Lucky at the last minute I remember that I have mad bunny hop skills and I jumped that bitch only giving it a slight love tap with my rear tire. After that incident the sun came out, the birds started chirping and there was a triple rainbow all the way across the sky. The prairie dog gave me a thumbs up and everyone was happy that day.

 

So, how about this wonderful spring weather we're having.
Snowing hard here, blizzard like and the Fort Collins driver retardation level has reached an all time high.

 

Yeah, pretty awesome. Not sure why a few weeks removed from snow people have already forgotten how to drive in it.

 

Up here in The Peoples Republic we ridicule those who want to kill prairie dogs...

They are innocent, friendly, and peaceful creatures. Leave 'em alone.

 

quoted for awesomeness

I don't know what premium rush is.

I have a vague idea that a cyclocross may be a type of bicycle who's "cross" properties allow the rider to transfer skills like "bunny hopping" to "rat hopping".

I noticed you mentioned that the "dog" was a "bitch". Do you think the outcome would have been the same if the rodent were male?