Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

Control of the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) is important for the reclamation of pasture ground for domestic cattle and limiting the spread of disease to humans and other wildlife. Six different concentrations of warfarin bait were fed to prairie dogs to determine mortality. Without the access to dietary vitamin K, the prairie dogs were susceptible to the warfarin bait. However, some of the prairie dogs recovered and survived the test after bait exposure was terminated. This could be due to physiological differences and the availability of fat-soluble vitamin K. The six different concentrations of warfarin consumed by the prairie dogs were correlated to the increase in treatment group (r=0.916). Body weight loss generally increased as the treatment group dosage increased. The control group was the only group which increased in body weight. The whole body tissue analysis of the prairie dogs from treatment groups 44.8, 233.0, and 777.6 ppm was correlated to the increase in treatment group (r=0.709).