Wyoming Prairie Dogs Should Fear the Vacuum [VIDEO]
Prairie dogs have never gotten along with farmers and ranchers. Livestock are injured when they step in prairie dog holes. Land becomes useless for humans to work. The population of a prairie dog town explodes what it is established and it can put a family ranch out of business in just a few years.
Ranchers have used anything they could think of to rid their land of this cute little chirping pest. They have gassed, poisoned, drowned, and anything else they cold think of. Even blowing them up in unusual ways including a high-pressure air hose that forces air into the ground. There are usually just too many to shoot.
So, have they tried everything? What if, rather than forcing air down the hole to blow them up we sucked air, drawing them out?
On Tuesday's morning show on KGAB radio [4/11/2017] a caller let me know of something called a Prairie Dog Vacuum.
A what?
Prairie Ecosystem Conservation Alliance (PECA) swears by it.
The system was built by Gay Balfour of Cortez, CO, using a modified sewer-clearing truck to generate suction through a long hose. This amazing modified machine whisks the little furry rodents through the rubber hose at an amazing 60 mph.
Environmentalists were outraged when they first heard of the prairie dog vacuum but while getting sucked into a waiting truck might shock and confuse the little varmints, it does not seem to harm them, and they can be relocated.
The company charges $1000 a day and can clear about 20 acres in a day or about 800 holes.