prairie dog and a gopher or groundhog. These are animals with complex social networks and territorial to their colonies and have been found to have unusually sophisticated communication systems. It isn't just that they live side by side with endangered black-footed ferrets, which they do, but they serve a much wider ecosystem. You may care more about preserving wolves, grizzly bears, mountain lions, but this species is equally worth protecting and poisoning their colonies is cruel as F...k. It also has killed dogs AND children in Texas (where else) and other areas where they have indiscriminately done so.

If you have the opportunity, speak out on this as well. And, yes, I have heard the BS from ranchers for decades. If you are grazing cattle or running horses on the very obvious and avoidable small area of land with a prairie dog colony, you are not just an idiot, but yes they will encounter uneven terrain and holes. I have yet to hear a successful rancher say it was not possible to avoid these small non-grazeable areas and to call out the loudmouths who claim their cattle are breaking their legs left and right as a result. They are the same morons who run their horses through a heavily burn-affected wooded area and wonder why they missed footing.

federal land is theirs to do with as they choose. They should limit the land available for grazing and raffle off the leases to the highest bidder.