204 GNAWING ANIMALS 



The Prairie-" Dog " is at home— where not exterminated 

 by poisoned wheat put into his burrow — from Texas, New 

 Mexico, and Arizona northward to the Canadian boundary, 

 and on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains in Utah 

 and Colorado. It is most abundant in Montana, Wyoming 

 and western Kansas. One of the largest Prairie-" Dog " towns 

 yet reported begins in Trego County, Kansas, five miles west 

 of the one-hundredth meridian, and extends along the divide 

 north of the Smoky Hill River, practically without a break, 

 to Colorado, a total distance of about one hundred miles. 

 This town varies in width from half a mile to five miles, and 

 on the top of the divide the nearest water is believed to be 

 350 feet below the surface. (Arthur B. Baker.) 



It is reported that because of the wholesale destruction of 

 wolves and foxes, the enormous increase of Prairie-" Dogs" 

 in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado has become a 

 genuine scourge to farmers and cattlemen. The number of 

 "Dogs" in that region is now estimated at several millions, 

 and a general campaign against them has been begun. The 

 method employed for their destruction is a spoonful of poi- 

 soned wheat placed in the mouth of each burrow. Beyond 

 doubt, this will soon reduce their numbers to reasonable 

 limits. 



When he is not too numerous, I am the friend of the 

 Prairie-" Dog." He is as bright and cheerful as the day is 

 long, and he enlivens many a dreary landscape, but at the 

 same time he often changes fine, grass-covered cattle-ranges 

 into dreary wastes, and causes great losses to cattle owners. 

 I hope, however, that he will be tolerated at least to the 



