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Extermination Prairie Dogs - Prairie Dog Pest Control

The Prairie Dog is a small burrowing rodent native to the grasslands of North America. The highly social prairie dogs live in large colonies or "towns". Collections of prairie dog families can span many acres of land and lead more than 11 yards (10 meters) into the ground. Families tend to consist of one male and 2 to 4 females. Some consist of multiple males and females or just a single creature. Colonies are fixed. The complex tunnel system they use can sustain for dozens of years.

Prairie dogs are tough, social animals that live in and around burrows deep within the prairie soil. They grow to between 14 and 17 inches (350-425 mm) long and weigh about 2 to 3 pounds (.91-1.4 kg). They are tan with a whitish or buff-white belly. The tips of their tails are sparsely covered by black hair. They have short ears and, compared to their body size, relatively large black eyes. Prairie dogs live from 3 to 5 years.

Prairie dogs live in complex communities, called "towns" or "colonies." The colony is an underground tunnel system leading to various chambers which are bedded with dry leaves and grass. Their burrows are approximately 10 yards apart, 3 to 14 feet deep and 10 to more than 100 feet long. A mound 3 to 10 feet across and ? to 1 foot high at the entrance of the burrow prevents water from rushing in and serves as a lookout station, as well as ventilation shafts for the entire burrow system. Burrow systems have 1 to 3 entrances. The tunnels have separate rooms for sleeping, eating, babysitting, and just sitting. Their burrows generally contain several routes of escape.

Prairie dogs spend most hot summer days sleeping and are active above ground mornings and evenings. In cool or overcast weather, prairie dogs may remain above ground all day. They emerge shortly after sunrise, and return to the burrow around sunset. Rain will often drive them to retreat underground.

Treating prairie dogs is generally the same as other open hole burrows, and can be performed anytime of the day or night. In most rural areas where combination treatments on pocket gophers are made in the early mornings, this activity may help in keeping most prairie dogs within their burrows for later applications. Application of the Rodenator to a prairie dog burrow system has a high success rates do to the cooperation of the animal retreating to their burrow at any sign of danger.

When making your first application to a burrow entrance, the resulting underground shockwave will also exit through connecting tunnels that are part of the treated burrow system. The resulting smoke, steam and debris, exiting these holes show you what has just been treated. Upon completing the application, it is important to full in and pack tight any holes that are connected to this burrow system, as well as leveling out the existing mounds by hand, land plane, blade or disking.

By packing shut these treated burrows and leveling out the mounds, this method will keep most prairie dogs from re-invading the treated burrows. In addition, any scent that was near the entrances of the burrows will be spread across the area, making the entrances much more difficult to locate by invading animals.

Rodenator Pest Control Methods for Prairie Dogs

The key to effectively maintaining control of prairie dogs with the Rodenator process is to treat every burrow system that does not appear to have been part of the initial application and immediately fill-in these holes with dirt, pack them tight and level any mounds. This method will reduce the chance of re-infestation by migrating or neighboring prairie dogs. By filling in these holes you will be able to see if a prairie dog has dug back into the burrow system.

When performing the application, please observe the safety protocols as detailed in the Operation Manual, especially for R1 users.

Making your Application

Before starting your work, carefully plan your application area. Start by locating the entrance of the burrows. Place marker flags to identify the burrow entrances. Most prairie dog burrows have several large mounds for their main entrance.

It is important to know the location of al holes when performing the application in order to properly position yourself away from the exiting shockwave.

Insert Nozzle

Prairie Dogs make large burrow openings and live in deep underground den sites. To identify the main entrance, look for an opening where the entrance has been smoothed over by the animal entering and exiting many times.

The end of the Rodenator device needs to be inserted into the entrance of the burrow (the hole) as deep as possible in order to inject the gas mixture properly. This also assures that the gas mixture is not being drawn out of the hole by any slight breeze.

Note: for maximum effectiveness, try to avoid applications to prairie dog burrows on windy days.

If you do perform applications on windy days, a flam proof cloth, damp towel or rag placed behind the application nozzle during the injection process will assist in preventing the gas mixture from being drawn out by a breeze.

Inject the Gas Mixture

Inject the gas into the hole using the Gas Timing Chart for prairie dogs. (Refer to Timing Chart)

Perform your application with a watch or stop watch to accurately dispense the gas into the tunnel.

Igniting the Gas Mixture

Immediately after releasing the gas (and closing ball valve on R1 Rodenators) depress the ignition button to detonate the oxy/fuel mixture.

Cover the Hole After the Shot

To assure that the application was successful and to prevent re-invasion of another animal into the burrow, the hole should be buried and packed immediately after the application.

Any evidence of the entrance, including mounds or depressions, should be leveled.

Follow-up

Carefully examine the previous days work. Repeat the same application process for reopened burrows.

When the infestation in the area is acute, repeated gas applications are often necessary.

Upon completing al applications, it is recommended that the treated areas be plowed or disked to further disrupt any mounds and to prepare the area of seeding to re-establish grasses or prairie pasture. The establishment of grasses - prairie or grazing - is important to keep prairie dogs from invading treated areas. Prairie dogs will avoid areas of tall grass as this limits their ability to see predators approaching the community.

Evaluation

During the application process, the sounds coming from the burrow opening may vary. In most cases, the target may have a large opening and sound may be as loud as a shotgun blast.

You may be able to reduce the sound by packing dirt around the nozzle during the injection of the gas mixture.

Prairie Dog Timing Chart