Prairie Dog Pals

Dedicated to the Preservation of Prairie Dogs and their Habitat

Third cat tests positive for bubonic plague in Wyoming

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For the third time in recent months, a cat has tested positive for bubonic plague in Wyoming, the state’s Department of Health reports. No human cases have been identified, but health officials warn the disease can be passed to people from infected animals.

 The most recent case involved a cat in the small town of Kaycee. Officials said the animal was known to wander outdoors. The disease was confirmed by the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory in Laramie.

Read more:  Wyoming

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Denver Water Prairie Dog Update

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Jan 15, 2019 — 

As many of you know, Denver Water took out a kill contract with Ronnie Purcella of Animal and Pest Control Specialists to needlessly kill two beautiful colonies of prairie dogs in Denver and Arapahoe County. The needless slaughter of these sentient beings occurred despite the fact that Denver Water owns over 1200 acres of open prairie land in Jefferson County that they could have easily relocated these colonies to, and they certainly could have allowed them to live in their only homes since there were no construction plans and the prairie dogs were simply living their lives. Obviously, money was no object because they spend over $12,000 hiring ERO resources to do an environmental survey and at least $33,000 hiring an exterminator to kill them.

 

Read more:  Update

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PDP Annual Meeting

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Greetings and best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Well it is that time again. The Annual Meeting will be held on 3 February 2019 at:
YMCA of Central New Mexico
12500 Comanche Rd. NE

Albuquerque, NM 87111

(505)595-1515 option 2 ext 4105
The annual meeting will be held from 200 to 400 in the building on the south side of the campus. The parking lot is adjacent to Comanche, you walk south passing the main building which will be on your left. I will be meeting with them late January and will provide you with any updates or changes. Hope to see you there.

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Evaluation of Five Pulicides to Suppress Fleas on Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs:

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1. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2019 Jan 8. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2018.2339. [Epub ahead of

print]
Evaluation of Five Pulicides to Suppress Fleas on Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs:
Encouraging Long-Term Results with Systemic 0.005% Fipronil.
Eads DA(1), Biggins DE(2), Bowser J(2), Broerman K(2), Livieri TM(3), Childers
E(4), Dobesh P(5), Griebel RL(5).
Author information:
(1)1 Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.
(2)2 U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, Colorado.
(3)3 Prairie Wildlife Research, Wellington, Colorado.
(4)4 National Park Service, Badlands National Park, Interior, South Dakota.
(5)5 U.S. Forest Service, Wall, South Dakota.
Plague, a flea-borne disease, hampers efforts to restore populations of
black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes), which occupy colonies of prairie dogs
(Cynomys spp.) in North America. Plague is managed by infusing prairie dog
burrows with DeltaDust® 0.05% deltamethrin, a pulicide that kills fleas.
Experiments are needed to identify pulicides that can be used in rotation with
DeltaDust for integrated plague management. In South Dakota, USA, we tested the
efficacy of four pulicide dusts when applied at a rate of 8
g per burrow on
colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus): Sevin® 5% carbaryl;
Dusta-cide® 6% malathion; Alpine® 0.25% dinotefuran with 95% diatomaceous earth;
and Tri-Die® 1% pyrethrum with 40% amorphous silica and 10% piperonyl butoxide.
We also tested systemic 0.005% fipronil, which was distributed as
½
cup of laced
grain per burrow. We sampled prairie dogs on 3294 occasions and detected 10,041
fleas. Sevin and Dusta-cide suppressed fleas but only for 1 month. Neither Alpine
nor Tri-Die had any noticeable, consistent effect on fleas. Fipronil suppressed
fleas by 97-100% for 3 months. The residual effect of fipronil persisted for
∼
12
months. Efficacy of fipronil seems comparable with DeltaDust, which exhibited a
residual effect for
∼
10 months in prior studies. Continued research is needed to
optimize fipronil treatments for plague management on prairie dog colonies.
DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2018.2339
PMID: 30620249
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/portal/utils/file_backend.cgi?Db=p
…
2FPubMedGroup%401.141&BaseUrl=&PortName=live&FileName=
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