by Richard "Bugman" Fagerlund
Daily Lobo Columnist
Hi.
My name is Myra and I am a prairie dog. I live in one of the isolated prairie dog villages in Albuquerque. For some reason, many members of your species seem to hate mine. I think it is probably because they don't understand us.
We are not dangerous and we do not carry diseases. We simply live in little villages and mind our own business. Some people think we kill trees but that is not true. We do not feed on tree roots unless there is absolutely nothing else to eat. We find most of our food above ground.
Other little animals such as gophers will feed on the roots of trees and bushes. Other people think we carry the plague and can spread it to your species. This is also not true. When the fleas that carry the plague invade our villages, we die just as humans do. If our village is full of healthy, fun loving prairie dogs, then I can assure you that the fleas that carry the plague aren't in our village.
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Unlike some other small animals, we are not a prolific species. I may have four pups a year but generally only two will survive. We are lucky to be able to maintain a population if we are left alone.
For whatever reasons; fear, misunderstanding or just plain meanness, your species likes to persecute us. Recently some friends of mine who lived in a prairie dog village close to a church in northeast Albuquerque had their village covered by the church because the church officials were expanding their parking lot. One church official, when questioned, said he doesn't give a "rat's ass" about prairie dogs.
Doesn't he understand that the same Being that created your species created us? Doesn't he understand that all species can live in peace? Why does your species with your superior intelligence find it necessary to destroy other species?
Over at Kirtland Air Force Base, the military is gassing more of my friends. The gas that they use is very painful and very slow working. My friends will suffer in great pain for as long as 72 hours after being gassed, before they finally, mercifully, die. Other people like to shoot us with high-powered rifles so they can see us "explode" when the bullet rips us apart.
Some people like to feed us rat poison. Rat poison destroys our capillaries and we bleed to death internally and very slowly.
Is there no limit to your imagination when it comes to destroying not only other species, but your own?
We have been gassed, poisoned and shot to such an extent that we now only represent about 1 percent of our original numbers. We are not stupid little animals. We have one of the most sophisticated of all animal languages.
We can vocalize different sounds, which identify many of the animals that feed on us. We recognize hawks, owls, eagles, coyotes, snakes and, of course, humans. All of the other animals kill us for food, which is the way nature is supposed to work. You folks do not kill us for any good reasons, except that you can. You may think you are killing us for good reasons, but you really don't understand us or know anything about us.
We like to socialize and we constantly visit other prairie dogs and even groom each other. When two prairie dogs meet we nuzzle and kiss each other.
If we are in your way and you can't live with us, then hire someone who will help relocate us. We all live on the same planet and we can all live together. We will not infect you with any exotic or domestic diseases. We will not destroy your landscaping and we will not harm your children. We will live our little lives as best we can in an ever-changing world. Some day we will become extinct, unless we can get your species to help ours survive.
If we leave this world, it will not be the same, just as it is not the same when any species becomes extinct. Many other species are dependent on our activities and they will follow our fate. When enough of the animal and plant species become extinct, then your species will soon follow them into oblivion. We were all created to help each other survive on this planet and as long as species are rapidly disappearing, then the future of the planet is pretty bleak.
Thank you for taking time to read this letter of introduction to our species. Hopefully we can all get along.
Dictated to Richard "Bugman" Fagerlund.
