Prairie dog advocates in the state of Colorado are up in arms over the recent issues with coyotes. According to the group, coyotes have been attacking and eating people's pets. They claim that this is a direct result of relocating prairie dogs for new development. Officials argue against these claims. Instead, they firmly believe there is still a healthy prairie dog population in the area.
Are Coyotes Eating People's Pets?
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Cowboy State Daily shares that "many prairie dogs have been killed or relocated to make room for development along Colorado's Front Range." As a result of that development and the diminishing prairie dog population, coyotes and other big predators are looking elsewhere for their dinners. Unfortunately, that elsewhere tends to be right in people's backyards.
Now there seems to be some debate. While local groups and residents are arguing that their pets are being snatched by these predators, Boulder County, Colorado officials claim there is "still a healthy prairie dog population, as well as rabbits and other natural prey." People of the town of Erie seem to disagree. Several calls reported that their pets were killed by either coyotes are mountain lions. Now, people are demanding that officials take action against these predators.
Furthermore, this is not the first time this has happened. The outlet shared that back in 2022, "mountain lions killed 23 dogs."
Prairie Dog Activists Warned Of This Happening
Despite officials claiming this is not an issue, prairie dog activists are not surprised by the recent turn of events. Deb Jones, a founding member and president of the Prairie Dog Action group, spoke to Cowboy State Daily on the matter. Unfortunatley, she claims that the recent pet deaths are a simple case of the I-told-you-so.
As someone who has been working with prairie dogs for years, she saw the warning signs a long time ago. She told the outlet that she brought up these concerns years ago, warning officials that coyotes and other predators would get desperate and would begin eating pets. When speaking of the removal of prairie dogs, Jones said, "The city and county management plans can't just include taking out a huge number of them (prairie dogs), with them thinking there won't be blowback from that."
While Jones agrees that relocating the animals is better than mass killings, she also argues that the current issue at hand is a manmade problem. Removing a significant source of prey for these predators leaves them desperate and without a good food source. "This is something we warned them about," she claimed. "And now people's pets are the target."
