Tag Archives: prairie dogs

Despite petition drive, prairie dog fence at Vance Brand Airport in Longmont is removed

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Vance Brand Airport prairie dog fence

You knew something was up when many advocates for prairie dogs filed into the Longmont City Council chambers last Tuesday night to make pleas on behalf of the ongoing issue of prairie dogs at Longmont’s Vance Brand Airport. Others channeled world leaders and one was very persistent in being disruptive and placing signs within camera view of the live meeting.

But, speakers also stated that 3,500 people had sent emails and letters in support of the prairie dogs. Continue reading →

The answer to Longmont’s prairie dog problem?

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What should Longmont do with those pesky varmints known as prairie dogs?  Well, here’s one idea that not only takes them out quick and painlessly, destroys their tunnel system, but also cooks them to a crisp for this great Prairie Dog Chili Festival I keep hearing about.  Hey, if Nederland can party over a frozen dead guy, why not?
The device?

The Rodenator.

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Longmont City Council-Public invited to be heard 6/16/09

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The following is my text from my speech at the public invited to be heard portion at the Longmont City Council meeting on June 16, 2009.

I’d like to talk about more than one topic tonite.
Firstly, I am a writer for the Longmont community for a variety of media publications and I think it’s a disservice to the Longmont citizens for councilmember McCoy to suggest that any other paper besides the Daily Times Call should be looked at as a source for local announcements, in particular legal notices. Why? The Times Call has the largest circulation in town and if you really want Longmont residents to best be aware of these notices, the Times Call is the best place to do that. I’ve also heard Councilmember Benker make comments about the paper being “a conservative paper” and have heard that she wants to pull city business out of the paper. They do seem very happy with the pricing Lehman Communications does for providing printing services for the new upstart Longmont Life “newspaper.” I really don’t see why this is being made a problem. Continue reading →

Longmont feels the heat, starts killing prairie dogs

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In what’s sure to be yet another hot topic in the city of Longmont, Colorado, the wholesale extermination of prairie dogs at the Vance Brand Airport is under way.  What’s going to be interesting is the interaction between the city staff that moved forward on it, and a few on city council who spoke out against it – and of course a few vocal citizens. Continue reading →

One of the biggest scandals in our midst

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As suggested in the Longmont Times-Call’s call-in, one way to solve the prairie dog problem at Longmont’s Vance Brand Municipal Airport without exterminating them might be to trap them and see how many of the caring people who show up at these public hearings step forward to take them home to keep in their own backyards.

But because these cute little rodents are known carriers of the dreaded bubonic plague through infestation of fleas, that’s not a good idea. And due to their tunneling ability, of course, building fences and putting up plastic barriers to control them are usually a waste of time and money. Prairie dogs not only attract coyotes, which feed on them, but share their burrows with rattlesnakes. Continue reading →