Posted on 07/12/2016 5:28:36 PM PDT by SJackson
US Fish and Wildlife Service to target diseased prairie dogs, food for the ferrets, via specially designed drones that shoot the candies in three directions at once
The US government is set to unleash drones that fire vaccine-covered M&Ms in a bid to save the endangered black-footed ferret, a species that is facing a plague epidemic across America’s great plains.
The US Fish and Wildlife (FWS) has developed a plan to bombard ferret habitat in Montana with the vaccine, which will be administered via specially designed drones that will be able to shoot M&Ms in three directions simultaneously.
The vaccines will be targeted at the prairie dog population at the UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge in north-eastern Montana. Black footed ferrets – North America’s only native ferret – are completely dependent upon prairie dogs, which are a type of burrowing rodent, for their food and shelter.
Both black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs are susceptible to the sylvatic plague, a flea-borne disease spread from rats that were introduced from ships arriving in California in the 1800s. While individual ferrets can be vaccinated by an injection, wildlife officials have found it difficult to protect prairie dogs over large areas.
Black-footed ferrets feast upon prairie dogs and invade their burrows, meaning that the disappearance of their co-dependent animal would prove disastrous for the species. Prairie dogs are considered a “keystone” species due to their importance to a range of animals, such as eagles, owls and coyotes.
“We dropped the vaccine out of a bag while walking around, but that’s very hard to do over thousands of acres,” said Randy Machett, a FWS biologist. “Spraying burrows with insecticide to kill the fleas is also labor intensive and not a long-term solution. So we are working with private contractors to develop equipment to drop the vaccine uniformly across an area, rather than one hog getting to eat a big pile of them.”
Machett said a “glorified gumball machine” has been devised to dispense the vaccine. This device can be fitted to a drone, which will use its GPS to reliably drop vaccines at 30ft intervals. The drone will also be able to fire out the M&Ms to the left and right, meaning that three vaccines can be dropped at once.
A modified fish bait machine has helped create the vaccine, which will consist of M&Ms smeared in vaccine-laden peanut butter. Machett said lab tests show that prairie dogs find the bait “delicious”, with a dye added to the mix reliably showing up on the animals’ whiskers.
Only 300 black-footed ferrets remain in the US across a handful of isolated sites. The species was briefly thought to be extinct in 1981, only for a number of animals to be brought into captivity for breeding. The current population originates from just seven ferrets that were selectively bred.
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Black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs have suffered population crashes due to disease, shooting and habitat loss. Many farmers still consider both species to be a pest, with some voicing their unhappiness at the M&M drone plan.
However, Machett said most submissions during a public comment period were “highly supportive” of the plan and he hopes that it will be operational by 1 September following final FWS approval. Other ferret populations in Arizona and Colorado will also be aided by the drones following the trial in Montana.
“It is the fastest, cheapest way to distribute the vaccine,” Machett said. “We are hopeful this oral vaccine will be used to mitigate plague sites and treat tens of thousands of acres each year.
“This is what the Endangered Species Act is all about – saving species, particularly those affected by human actions.”
Well, from the words in the piece, it appears that the candy will be attractive to children. And BTW, that’s the Bubonic Plague being discussed in the gooshy, slippery language of the article. The Plague is also in CO prairie dogs.
CO prairie dogs don’t need more of a population explosion, by the way.
god our government suks.
a few years ago the state was broadening a highway off my driveway from a two lane to a four lane and had to do these anthropology studies ahead of construction (so as to not destroy any native artifacts dontchyaknow) - low and behold they found some fire ring 4 feet down on my ranch and stopped all construction. anyhoo these long haired old hippies would be down there every day digging in their holes and i would go on my daily dog hunting at the same time.
get the am chores done and my cow dog Hank and i would jump on the 4 wheeler and go kill dogs. the hippie proffs asked me one time why i was always killing the prairie dogs and i told him - because i’m the apex predator on this land and it’s my duty to keep the population under control. he wanted to know why i didn’t get some black footed ferrets let loose on my land - i told him i don’t need any weasels to help - i have a 22-250 that has a way better percentage kill ratio than any weasel. I had to explain how i was a creature of the earth too - part of the “circle of life” - not from mars. and how my apposing thumps and superior brain had outsourced the damn weasel.
god i hate liberals
i left him slack-jawed and whipped.
dam dogs carry the plague ... they’re filthy and destructive - and out of control because of fake endangered acts aimed at curbing the landowner’s rights.
Any number of wild animals will get to pets or livestock.
That does not mean the answer is to wipe out the wild animals. It really is up to the owner to protect the pets or livestock.
My stepfather had a chicken ranch. Raccoons were the worst pest. They would climb up to the cages (which were about 3 feet off the ground), reach inside and pin a chicken to the bottom of the cage and chew off whatever they could reach. We would often find mangled chickens in the morning. They weren’t dead, just mangled and dying. Skunks and rats were problems, too.
My stepfather would put out traps for the raccoons. It is true that they will chew off a foot to get out of a trap. The way to prevent this is to get up before sunrise—they don’t become desperate until they see the sky lighten—and shoot them.
Raccoons are not endangered.
I like the peanut M&Ms.
HOW ABOUT A FLIGHT OVER THE HOUSE AND SENATE...???
Both are hosts to the fleas that spread bubonic plague. There's a reason people have been trying to eradicate them for the last century.
Who cares, millions aren't real money!
Probably originated as an academic project, federally funded. If they don't eat the M&Ms, another project will determine what they do eat. And if they don't like Capt Crunch, well, it just keeps on going.
Canines, don’t know if chocolate is toxic to most. Though M&Ms strike me as an odd choice. If the prarie dogs die off, depriving ferrets of their protein, they’ll both become endangered, and the research into their diet will expand. Ground critters like that, I’d coat lettuce or beans with the vaccine.
Ferrets are great pets.
Cute as hell and playful.
Just make sure they don’t get lost. They don’t have a homing instinct like dogs and cats do.
Me either, I’m engaged with whistle pigs/ground hogs right now and M&Ms aren’t the solution. They’re cute too, and I’ve let them hang around too long.
Sorry, the government knows we need more prairie dogs to feed the ferrets. The ferrets made a large donation to the Clinton Foundation last year. So did M&Ms. That's how these things work.
Plague among other things. And the dog holes are a threat to hoofed livestock. They are cute.
The situation is a bit more complicated and nuanced than that.
At an American Society of Microbiology conference a few years ago, I saw a presentation on the problem of plague in prairie dogs. The scientists of the Fish and Wildlife service wanted to eradicate the plague. So they hatched a plan to fumigate the prairie dog burrows to kill the plague-carrying fleas. The farmers and ranchers wanted nothing of the sort to happen. They wanted the plagued fleas to remain because the plague is very deadly to prairie dogs and can wipe out whole populations of the dogs. What happens is that a colony of prairie dogs builds its warren of tunnels, which can become quite extensive, and if a dog encounters a diseased flea, the plague quickly spreads and kills the entire colony. The empty warren is then full of hungry fleas, and stays empty for years until the fleas and bacteria die off. Thus, the farmers and ranchers depended on Yersinia pestis to control the dogs, which they did not want on their property.
The ferrets, IIRC, almost died out because they got distemper from dogs. Protecting their population (by vaccinating with the food-baits) will let them breed, and they will once again control the prairie dog population.
It seems to me that the farmers might become more amenable to other plans to wipe out the diseased fleas, if there is another (natural) method to control the rodents.
John Belushi tried that.
Whole idea is stupid beyond belief. Ants will get vaccinated and the prairie rats will remain flea-infested vectors for plague. They’re getting paid regardless, so no wonder it’s a bunch of crap.
I was thinking they might prevent breeding.
The one with stock in M&M’S.
LOL Very good. :)
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