One man's protected species is another man's pest. Owner Tina Mayer is an articulate, and knowledgeable chaser of all things furry but deemed pests. She uses humane traps baited with food rather than poison, then relocates the rascals to parts far away. This summer the Valley floor outside of Telluride is alive with prairie dogs. A "scout" dog made its way in to town, and put down burrows beneath my host's house. Diurnal, the dog came out in broad daylight and cropped every flower in the yard and on the deck. Then it leveled the vegetable garden's leaf lettuce. My host wondered aloud if it was a boy dog because it wouldnt touch the arugula. Weeks after arrival, the dog which was determined to be a girl, was caught and immediately driven off into the country by Critter Gitter. Job well done! read more