Posted on 02/07/2005 8:43:34 AM PST by Theodore R.
Lubbock Lake to do stand-in honors for Prairie Dog Town BY RAY WESTBROOK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
When Texas sends a Travel/Tex photographer to the Lubbock Lake Landmark on Tuesday, the massive mammoth statue on a hill by the Nash Interpretive Center will be bypassed.
Instead, the lens will zoom in to ground level for a close-up shot of a twitchy prairie dog whose bark is worse than its bite.
Brian Thomas, director of communications for the Lubbock Convention and Visitors Bureau, would have volunteered Prairie Dog Town for the pictures, which are designed to fill a 30-second clip on a Web site promoting travel in the state. But the prairie dogs' home is under renovation right now, he said.
They may need a longer lens than usual, though, according to Deborah Bigness, manager of site operations at Lubbock Lake. The prairie dogs that inhabit the archaeologic preserve are not as used to getting easy handouts from humans as their city cousins at Prairie Dog Town. When approached, they may bark a quick warning before disappearing underground.
"I got a call from people who do advertising for the State of Texas," Thomas explained of the plan to put prairie dogs on the internet. "I don't know how they picked us."
He ranks Prairie Dog Town up there with Texas Tech, the Depot District, the Buddy Holly Center and the Museum of Texas Tech as one of the five top attractions to Lubbock.
"I don't want him to not film in Lubbock," he said in recommending Lubbock Lake while Prairie Dog Town is temporarily shut down.
Noting that Lubbock will be identified with its prairie dogs, Thomas said, "I think it will attract tourists here."
He said Prairie Dog Town is fascinating and very popular with tourists who come to Lubbock from other parts of the state.
"A lot of people in Lubbock don't realize that, but it is true," he said.
"I think Lubbock just needs to embrace the prairie dog because it is bringing people into town."
ray.westbrook@lubbockonline.com t 766-8711
Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News."
Farmers don't consider them a tourist attraction. They are a real pest in the field.
Don't they know that Lubbock is really known for the bad smell and dust storms?
Prarie dogs' holes break cow's legs.
A Ruger 10/22 is the answer. Or poison.
But also, Lubbock has a lake?!
I mean, a lake besides the lake that is also known as the parking lot of the mall.
I grew up in Lubbock and it is nowhere as bad as it was for sand storms. In the 50s we would have sandstorms so bad that they would strip the paint off cars and it was nearly impossible to seal a house enough to keep the sand out of it.
Sandstorms are the number one reason I left Lubbock.
"Lubbock has a lake?!"
Somebody left their sprinklers on overnite
Shoot, the drainage is so bad there a light rain and the entire town becomes a lake. Go by the mall after a rain. Olive Garden is like an island.
I left Lubbock because TTU was so overrated it was pitiful- the 'Tech Mafia' didn't help either (those who went to Tech know what I'm talking about.) The sandstorms, smell, and stuck-up-redneck attitudes just added to my feelings.
"Olive Garden is like an island."
I have a picture of several big vehicles (P/Us) with water-over-the top of the cabs. The Olive Garden stands out like a beacon.
They have been putting in massive drain pipes for several years. Allegedly the problem is nearly fixed.
"I left Lubbock because TTU was so overrated it was pitiful"
"Sandstorms are the number one reason I left Lubbock"
which is it?
Let me guess...your an Aggie
Most people describe the people of Lubbock as the friendliest people in the world, but I guess you musta had a different experience...I love Lubbock althought the 3-5 sandstorms a year are a downer.
The second quote wasn't mine. That was a message to me.
Actually not, I was a Red Raider but I switched to Trinity.
That definitely was not my experience in 1960. It was a great campus with very friendly people.
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