tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13758431.post4191290782255004019..comments2023-10-28T03:14:44.519-07:00Comments on Calhouns Can(n)ons: NewsstandGreghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04099049885765768069noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13758431.post-2000272341999723122008-06-06T00:23:00.000-07:002008-06-06T00:23:00.000-07:00Re: Gophers, prairie dogs, rodents and other infer...Re: Gophers, prairie dogs, rodents and other infernal ground pests. No, sadly I have no great solutions. The one's suggested so far sound better than most. But what I find curiously intriguing is how easily (and cavalierly) such extermination is being discussed. <A HREF="http://www.rodenator.com/" REL="nofollow">The Rodenator</A>? Oh my gawd! When <I>The Force</I> fails, there's always technology. <BR/><BR/>I lived a few years in Boulder, Colorado. Boulder is sometimes described as The People's Republic of Boulder. A liberal, free thought and spiritual mecca. 15 square miles surrounded by reality. Even Boulder had ground hog problems. One of their solutions? Hire a big truck tricked out as a vacuum cleaner and suck them little dogs up and out of their burrows into the truck whereupon they would be moved out-of-town (read: Kansas) where they could presumably spend the rest of their lives living the good groundhog life. (Something akin to <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0LPUI0lfVw" REL="nofollow">The Front Fell Off</A> interview.)<BR/><BR/>When I was feeling lazy or was otherwise cripp'd up I used take my dogs down to a prairie dog field. Oh man, they loved it so. And I enjoyed watching their aerobic exercise - for hours and hours or until I grew tired watching them - running back and forth and back and forth and back and forth from hill to hill. The prairie dogs chiding them from one end of the field to the other. There was never any chance of my dogs actually catching one. I presume there were probably some health and disease considerations. But my dogs knew when we were heading to the field and they just went bonkers. They loved chasing those prairie dogs. If you've never spent an afternoon watching your dog chase prairie dogs I highly recommend it. I think dog parks and groundhog communities make a good combination.<BR/><BR/>And of course we owe some of the finest moments in cinema to prairie dogs. Shucks, Bill Murray's career is an ode to groundhogs. Think Carl Spackler in Caddyshack. And Phil Connors in Groundhog Day. (sigh) Two all time greats!<BR/><BR/>Nope, I think groundhogs are part of the experience. There's something to be learned in how we deal and dance with groundhogs. My guess is following the nuclear holocaust when most of life as we know it has been wiped off the face of the earth. There will still be cockroaches, coyotes and groundhogs. Deal with it.*PG-13https://www.blogger.com/profile/14900054935763648975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13758431.post-72585071113254922452008-06-05T08:55:00.000-07:002008-06-05T08:55:00.000-07:00Welcome back!Ann wrote:"Speaking of which, from ev...Welcome back!<BR/><BR/>Ann wrote:<BR/><BR/><I>"Speaking of which, from everyone I've talked to, NOTHING works on gophers."</I><BR/><BR/>I hate them so much. When I go out to the garden and see that one of my butternut squash plants, for example, that I've cared for for months has vanished, I think of renting <A HREF="http://www.rodenator.com/" REL="nofollow">one of these</A>.<BR/><BR/>It's called the Rodenator, and it shoots a combination of misted propane and air into their tunnels, and then you pull a switch that ignites it all, and creates a "massive underground explosion."<BR/><BR/>That would work.<BR/><BR/>Harsh, I know, and PETA can't be down, but for anyone that's watched their tomato plants get yanked underground right before their eyes, they'd understand.Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14156410299483542733noreply@blogger.com