Free Republic

GREEN RIVER -- The prairie dog rises above its burrow on the high plains of southern Wyoming and takes a casual look around. Seconds later, the animal disappears in an explosion of blood and dirt. The self-described "shortgrass sniper" dressed in camouflage and orange chuckles for the camera and gets ready to fire again. With thousands of hits on YouTube, this popular prairie dog video by Colorado hunter Jim Bowman advises hunters to get ready for the upcoming prairie dog killing contest in southern Wyoming's Carbon County. The controversial, fifth annual, three-day "There Goes the Neighborhood" prairie dog killing contest...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican presidential hopeful John McCain taunted rival Mitt Romney on immigration Monday, saying Romney should "get out his small-varmint gun and drive those Guatemalans off his lawn." Romney's campaign responded that McCain "is having a very difficult time" defending his support of a sweeping immigration bill, which Romney opposes....Monday, McCain made fun of Romney's evolving positions on other issues... "In the case of Gov. Romney, you know, maybe I should wait a couple of weeks and see if it changes, because it's changed in less than a year from his position before," McCain said. "And maybe his...

  based on the following news story: Romney aims again to explain hunting (including 'varmints')This cartoon/graphic is free for noncommercial use in emails, blogs, and forums.  IowaPresidentialWatch.com

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey has warned squirrel hunters near a toxic waste dump about consuming the critters because they could be contaminated with lead. It is the first time the state has cautioned Ringwood residents - many who are members of the Ramapough Mountain Indian tribe who hunt and fish in the area - about their squirrel intake, said Tom Slater, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Senior Services. A lead-contaminated squirrel was found in the area two months ago, prompting the agency, along with the state Department of Environmental Protection, to send out letters advising...

Explosive devices can be used to kill prairie dogs, the Colorado Wildlife Commission decided Thursday - giving farmers one more tool to get rid of the burrowing animals. "I'm tickled pink," said Matt Fickes, a Sterling farmer who has sought to use the devices. "I've got prairie dogs so thick I can't see straight. "Ever see that Star Trek episode, 'The Trouble With Tribbles'? It's like that," he said. "They are born pregnant." Landowners have been allowed to shoot, vacuum, poison and drown prairie dogs - but not blow them up. Now they'll be permitted to use hand-held devices, such...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Conservation groups served notice Thursday they intended to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for refusing to study whether to give federal protection to prairie dogs known for their ability to warn one another of danger in explicit detail. One expert, Con Slobodchikoff, a biology professor at Northern Arizona University, said the Gunnison's prairie dog has the most sophisticated communications yet documented among non-humans. They can whistle different alarm calls for different predators that signal particular manners of escape, his studies have found. The alarm calls also describe the general size, color and speed...

The dispute between dominant species over shared habitat in the West is escalating. The proposal emphasizes continued protections for endangered species, and it states that such measures "shall be directed at the offending animal" while not jeopardizing the "viability of predator populations." The "offending animal" is the one perceived as a threat to people and livestock. There now are more than 1,000 wolves in the Northern Rockies region. In Idaho alone, the offspring of 35 Canadian wolves now number more than 500. Their main prey are...deer and elk. But they have attacked domestic animals as well...through 2005...( at least )...

A worker at a Downtown steam plant who brought a pellet rifle to work to shoot pigeons was mistaken for a sniper Wednesday afternoon, prompting police to shut down part of the city for about two hours. Richard Wills, of Dawson, Fayette County, a maintenance worker in the Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal building, brought the weapon to work to chase pigeons away from broken windows on the building's roof, said PACT President Robert Fazio. Someone apparently spotted him - and his rifle - when he stepped out onto the roof for a few seconds, Fazio said. At least three witnesses...

It seemed like a good idea. Let a lone rat loose on a rodent-free island and then figure out how to kill it. That way, when other islands are invaded by rats, you'll know what to do. Scientists figured they'd trap this foot-long varmint in no time. Eighteen weeks later, they finally trapped it with some fresh penguin bait. On another island. Rodents are a problem just about everywhere. In New Zealand, at least 11 islands have been invaded by Norway rats since 1980, in each case after rats from earlier invasions had been eradicated. The invaders disrupt local ecosystems....

HAMISH ROBERTSON: Well staying in the United States, Anti-gun campaigners are concerned about a worrying trend in which charity groups and fundraisers are using guns as prizes in raffles. A volunteer fire brigade has set a new benchmark with its raffle, giving away a gun every day for the entire year. It says it needs the cash to continue operating, but many are wondering whether America, a nation already saturated with guns, needs anymore. Lisa Millar compiled this report. (sound of cars passing by) LISA MILLAR: A few hours drive west of Washington DC lies Emmitsburg, Maryland, which gets its...

<p>Fearrington Village homeowners are expected to vote Tuesday night on a controversial plan to curb deer populations.</p> <p>Deer overpopulation in Fearrington has caused controversy among residents.</p> <p>The proposal would allow certified bowmen to hunt deer at specific times. The meat would be donated to food shelters.</p>

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - The Canadian province of Saskatchewan is offering cash prizes to the top guns in its 2002 gopher-hunting derby, but the plan to rid the Prairie farming region of a plague of the cute, crop-eating rodents is drawing flak from animal rights activists. "It's a killing derby basically and there's other ways of dealing with wildlife," said Sinikka Crosland, a Canadian nurse who has spearheaded an international letter-writing blitz. "We're going to have people out there with their firearms blasting away at the gophers," she said. The 2002 Ken Turcott Memorial Gopher Derby began this week in...