The illustrations on the following pages tell better than would volumes of written words, the story of rodent damage and of cooperative work to reduce this damage.
PRAIRIE DOGS
Four years experimental study in northern Arizona showed that prairie dogs destroy 60 percent of the wheat grass, 99 percent of the dropseed, and 83 percent of the grama grass, or 80 percent of the total potential annual production of forage. The possible destruction of four-fifths of the forage, or even a far smaller proportion, is serious enough at any time, but in periods of drought it is likely to be calamitous.
The following pictures show typical prairie dog infestation.
Prairie dog mounds on abandoned Indian farm,
Southern Navajo Reservation, Arizona.
Area practically denuded of grass by prairie dog—
Wescalero Indian Reservation, New Mexico.