Why do ranchers believe that prairie dogs compete with cattle and need to be eradicated?
Traditions and beliefs that are passed down from generation to generation are hard to change. Beliefs about the conflicts between prairie dogs and cattle can be traced to C. Hart Merriam, who was chief of the U.S. Biological Survey (the precursor to today’s Department of Agriculture) at the beginning of the 20th century. His belief that prairie dogs robbed cattle of 50 percent to 75 percent of their forage led to the idea that prairie dogs should be eradicated to make the Great Plains safe for cattle. This thinking caused irreparable damage, as millions of prairie dogs were poisoned in the early 1900s. This belief endures to the present day, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary. The Journal of Range Management, a publication devoted to the development of the livestock industry, has published a number of studies showing that prairie dog competition with livestock is negligible and that killing prairie dogs is not economically beneficial to ranchers. It has now been d
