Even the Daily Camera has figured out prairie dogs are losing the road war. They list two reasons:
1. Development and
2. a good year for the “dogs”.
I’m not sure what a “Boulder wildlife consultant” is, but here she is commenting on the “good year”
“We do seem to be seeing more this year,” said Susan Honeycutt, a Boulder wildlife consultant.
An unusually healthy year for prairie dogs actually might be backfiring on the burrowing species, Honeycutt said. Because this year saw lots of precipitation and extra vegetation, more of the critters survived long enough to get kicked out of their burrows and scurry right into high-speed traffic.”
and here’s the typical Boulder comment that growth is bad and it’s our fault, not the fact that priarie dogs procreate at warp speed….
Increasing development also means less room for new prairie dog populations to expand, Honeycutt said.
“Every year it seems like more and more get pushed out of areas that are being developed,” she said. “Then they’re kicked out, they’re on the run, looking for somewhere to hook up.
To the best of my knowledge there is NO major development occuring in the areas where I have observed the increase in roadkill. The problem is obvious, the priarie dogs multiply too fast for the available space. The solution is population control by thinning the population, unfortunately County government doesn’t have the courage to implement this solution.
