We do prairie dog control

• We don't vacuum them out of their holes.

• We don't use smoke bombs.

• We don't live-trap them.

• We don't relocate them.

• We responsibly manage them so they are not a problem for you or your neighbors.

• We fumigate them.

Fumigation

EPA allows only one effective fumigant for prairie dogs—aluminum phosphide. It can be used whenever we can get a shovel into the soil.

Our services include . . .

Services we deliver for the charges include an initial treatment where we attempt to locate and fumigate every active prairie dog burrow in the colony, according to EPA label requirements. Also, we will return and go over the colony again within 10 days of the initial treatment to re-treat open or missed burrows at no extra charge. After the cleanup, we will send out a report card stating that the cleanup was done and listing how many survivors we treated, giving you our appraisal of the situation. Any survivors or prairie dogs immigrating into the colony after the cleanup treatment are not our responsibility. Our average control success rate is better than 98% reduction of prairie dogs.

What to expect after our cleanup fumigation

• In some cases, all of the prairie dogs will be eliminated and no more will show up.

• In some cases, a few prairie dogs will dig out, reconstruct the burrow entrance, and immediately begin opening up burrows surrounding their burrow.

• Coyotes, red fox, dogs, swift fox, skunks, and badgers will dig into sealed mounds, pull out, and eat the dead prairie dogs. Some of this type of dig-out usually follows a treatment in from one to ten days. Do not mistake this activity for failure of the fumigation.

• After a spring or summer fumigation, it is rarely effective to fumigate again that year; the following spring is the time to try fumigation again. That allows the survivors time to reorganize and concentrate. It allows the uninhabited holes to weather shut

• Depending on how close the treated colony is to another colony, reinvasion may begin the day we leave. The solution to that is to encourage the neighboring landowners to get their prairie dogs controlled.

Cost for fumigation:

We require a set-up fee for each job site. In addition to the set-up fee, the fumigation costs are calculated based on the burrows treated.

Set-up costs:

Per-burrow costs*:

1 - 500 burrows ..............$2.75 per burrow

501 - 2500 burrows .........$2.50 per burrow

2501+ burrows ...............$2.25 per burrow

*Note: This is in addition to the set-up fee.

Grain Poison

EPA allows us to use zinc phosphide only on oats or in a pellet. The effective use dates for this poison are July 15 through December 31 during dry weather under very special conditions and only on "rangelands." 

When do we use zinc phosphide on oats (grain poison)?

On jobs over 20 acres, when the right type of conditions exist, we may recommend zinc phosphide poison as the best choice for controlling prairie dogs. Successful zinc phosphide oat treatment requires prebaiting, monitoring prebait uptake, and several trips to the job-site prior to control. It is sometimes effective, and the control may approach fumigation success, if executed properly. It is always advisable to schedule a follow-up fumigation the following spring when zinc phosphide oats is used.

Cost:

1-20 acres...$55/acre

21+ acres.....$50/acre

Note: This is in addition to the set-up fee.

Things to keep in mind . . .

Because of the large number of immigrating prairie dogs, adjacent prairie dog colonies, and prairie dogs moving because of construction and relocation, we are seeing a lot of repopulation happening on colonies that we have successfully treated earlier in the year. As of April 1, 2001, we found it necessary to establish a new policy regarding the third or fourth treatments on a colony in one year: If needed, we will return and go through the colony again within two weeks of the cleanup and charge only for the burrows treated, no set-up fee. After two weeks have passed since you received the cleanup report card, then we will charge the set-up fee and the per-burrow charge at the rate of the original job.

Payment is due, in full, after the initial treatment described above. We do not claim we can produce 100% control; therefore, payment cannot be withheld because a few prairie dogs remain. We normally eliminate in excess of 98% of the prairie dogs with the two control actions. We often attain 99.5% to 100% control, but we have no control over the quality of the chemical, unusual soil conditions, or prairie dogs reinvading the colony after treatment.

Counts of prairie dog burrows are made based on the number of fumigant pellets used and/or with a counter. Often the number of prairie dog burrows is more numerous than anticipated by the landowner or us. Counting the burrows prior to the treatment is time-consuming and expensive. Be flexible in your expectations on numbers of burrows in your colony. On average, the number of burrows we treat per acre is 55. The range we normally find is 25 to 100 burrows per acre. We will not take a job where we know we can only do half the job unless we have informed our customer of the problems with that choice.

How safe are these treatments, and what can we guarantee?

Both Aluminum phosphide and zinc phosphide chemically break down to ammonia, water, and zinc or aluminum phosphate—harmless fertilizers. There are no harmful residues or secondary poisoning problems with either of these two chemicals.

Prairie dog control is not a guaranteed 100% elimination. We simply do not have the methods available to us to do it. Often, persistence over one or two years will eliminate the rodents. In nearly every case where the colony is separated from an untreated one nearby, the annual cleanup is not expensive and prevents another large control expense later.

We want to do a good job for you. We do not want you to be disappointed. This announcement is given to you so that your expectations are in line with what we or any other pest control company can deliver. If there are questions or problems, please call us; we can often get them solved satisfactorily.

Why is the control of prairie dogs so controversial?

Prairie dog control continues to create controversy in Colorado. In 2002, in response to requests from the agricultural community, the Colorado Division of Wildlife completed an aerial survey of the acreage of land inhabited by the black-tailed prairie dogs in Colorado. The survey results revealed that there were an estimated 631,000 acres of prairie dogs in Colorado. Are prairie dogs endangered? Under no conceivable circumstances are they threatened with extinction. The Colorado Department of Agriculture study estimated losses of $14 million per year to agriculture in Colorado. The non-agricultural folks suffer approximately $15 million.

Without control, prairie dog acreage expands at 18% to 30% each year. Effective control means killing at least 80% of a prairie dog colony, otherwise the annual reproduction brings the population back to 100%.

Yearlings migrate out away from the home colony from March through August. They re-invade treated colonies, start new ones, or expend the colony in which they were born. We have seen a colony under ideal conditions go from 30 transplanted animals to 300 acres and 12,000 animals, in six years. Numbers of prairie dogs that leave overcrowded colonies are phenomenal.

Controversy? There really should not be any. Responsible managers, particularly those in control of overpopulated prairie dog towns within cities, have to balance the public health and nuisance threats with the benefits. Realistically, there is really no choice. Prairie dogs need to be managed. That means euthanizing some of these rodents with the best methods available.

Prairie dog problems do not go away by themselves. They require successful control measures. That is what we strive to do.