Pest Facts

Gunnison’s Prairie Dog

– Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) inhabit sagebrush, grassland, high mountain valleys and plateaus in the southern Rocky Mountains. They can be found predominantly throughout the Four Corners region where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet.

– Gunnison’s prairie dogs live in colonies, which are organized into clans called coteries. They emerge from ‘hibernation’ around mid-March to late April. Each spring they produce a litter of three to four pups. The pups stay in their burrows four to five weeks before coming above ground. Usually by the end of June the young emerge.

– Burrow systems extend for 10 to 90 feet, with several chambers used as nurseries, latrines, resting areas and air pockets in the event of flooding. Prairie dogs are preyed upon by coyotes, hawks, and badgers.

– The Gunnison’s prairie dog eats away the annual grasses and shrubs for food as well as to make it easier to watch for predators.
Source – nps.gov

Black-tailed Prairie Dog

– The Black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), is named for their black-tipped tail. They average 12 to 16 inches in length and weigh 1 to 3 pounds. A colony will typically have 30 to 50 burrow entrances per acre.

– Black-tailed prairie dogs live in coteries typically consisting of one adult male, three or four adult females, and their young up to one year of age.

– Prairie dogs do not go into true hibernation, but periods of dormancy or “torpor” during the coldest periods of the winter. Their activity and appetite are decreased during winter. They may sleep for many days at a time, but the town is usually active during the milder days of winter.
Source – nps.gov


Pocket Gophers
Botta’s and northern are predominate in this Southwest Colorado

– The northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides) is present in the upland areas of the eastern plains to the mountainous areas with gravel soils. It is the most common species in mountain rangelands and aspen forests.

– Botta’s (formerly called valley) pocket gopher (Thomomys bottae) is found primarily in well developed soils of the warm valleys in southern Colorado.

– Pocket gophers can reduce the productivity of alfalfa fields and native grasslands by 20 to 50 percent.

– Gopher mounds dull and plug sickle bars when harvesting hay or alfalfa.

– Gophers sometimes damage trees by clipping stems and by pruning roots excessively.

– One gopher can bring roughly 2.25 tons of soil to the surface each year. Mound-building activity is usually  greatest in the spring and fall.
Source – Colorostate.edu

Ground squirrels

– There are several species of ground squirrels located in Colorado including the 13-Lined, the Wyoming, the White-Tailed Antelope, and the Golden-Mantled ground squirrel.

– Ground squirrels feed mostly on seeds but will also eat flowers, buds and insects if available.

– Most ground squirrels mate in spring and have a single litter of 6 to 12 young with a gestation period of about a month. The rock squirrel, also located in the Southwest areas of Colorado, can have two litters per year.
Source – Cpw.state.co.is

Black Footed Ferret

– Since March 11, 1967, the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) has been listed as endangered.
Source fsw.gov

– Mating season for ferrets runs from March to April and they have 1-7 kits. At around 90 days of age, kits are about 90% of their full size, adept at killing prairie dogs, and ready to start out life on their own.

-They eat prairie dogs and live in their burrows.
Source – nps.gov

                         WILL NOT TREAT IF SIGNS OF FERRET OR BURROWING OWL ARE PRESENT