Praire Dog Update and Pictures

For those of you who are curious as to the status of our prairie dog nightmare, the following is an email that I have sent to our homeowners' association. I've also included some pictures, and yes, that's a prairie dog skull you see.

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We are writing concerning the prairie dog colony that currently resides in the ******** community between ******** Road and ******* Way. As new homeowners (having purchased the property in November) we are surprised and alarmed by the number of prairie dogs living in the area surrounding our home. As spring has progressed the prairie dogs have become more aggressive and have moved further into our lot. Our back lot is currently a complete loss due to the prairie dogs. We will need to reseed and start from the beginning in landscaping the area, which we are wary of doing while there are still prairie dogs on the land. The prairie dogs are also moving further up the lot and have established burrows around the foundation of the home and are beginning to inhabit our front lot. We have had Claude ****** from ****** Animal Control out to our lot twice to examine the situation. Upon initial inspection Claude felt that we could try to exterminate the prairie dogs on our property alone. However, after a few weeks Claude noticed the movement and growth of the colony and informed us that, unless our neighbors joined us in the fight, we would be pouring money "down the prairie dog hole". Specifically, he indicated that our lot, the ******'s lot (to the the north) and the ******** Water lot (to the south), as well as the extensive land belonging to the ******* estate would need to be treated. There may also be other lots that will need to be treated, however, these lots are of immediate impact to ours. Claude informed us that in order to prevent future problems, it would be wise to exterminate the entire colony.

We have made contact with both the ******'s and ******** Water and they are more than willing to join us in trying to eradicate the prairie dogs. However, calls to the ******* estate have not been returned. As residents in good standing with the ************ Association we are requesting assistance/guidance from the Board of Directors regarding this issue. Any assistance in contacting the ******** estate, as well as any other residents who may need their lots treated, would be greatly appreciated.

Please let us know what other courses of action, if any, the Board would like to see us take, and what else we can do to assist. This is a matter of great importance to us, as the lot was the main selling point for us in purchasing this home.

Thank you for your time.

Claude called this a prairie dog "condo".

Another view of the "condo".

Yes, this skull is on our land.

View of our back patio and a prairie dog burrow about 10 feet away from our door.