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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Prairie dogs that have been digging up a town cemetery in southern Utah are being evicted -- and not soon enough for local officials, who complain the animals are toppling headstones as they dig.
At the cemetery in Paragonah, some 200 miles south of Salt Lake City, a fence with a ground curtain was recently installed to keep the critters out -- but dozens were already inside the enclosure, so trappers will be tasked with taking them out.
"Hopefully, with the trapping and a new fence, we can keep the numbers low," Utah Division of Wildlife biologist Keith Day said Monday.
Prairie dogs in southern Utah have been federally protected since 1973. Day said the animals are fond of digging holes under headstones, causing them to lean or topple. They also tear up golf courses, leaving mounds of red dirt on the greens.
Cedar City has had the same problem at its cemetery, where Day said prairie dogs have been known to dig up bones from a section that contains Paiute Indians who were buried without coffins. He said he has never heard any reports of prairie dogs chewing their way into a coffin.
Day said the trapping at Paragonah has been under way for a week and that the prairie dogs are being relocated to other lands in southern Utah. More trapping could be necessary a year from now if some of the rodents find their way back inside the cemetery, he said.
Local officials have complained that state regulators are slow to authorize the shooting, containment or relocation of prairie dogs when they become a nuisance.
"Honestly, I have a continued frustration with prairie dogs in golf courses and even the cemeteries because they are a sacred place," Iron County Commission Chairman Alma Adams told The Spectrum of St. George newspaper. "I don't think there should be any regulation or delay on getting prairie dogs out of the cemetery. It should just be a given that prairie dogs are not allowed to burrow in a cemetery, for heaven's sakes."
Paragonah Mayor Connie Robinson told The Spectrum she recently sat at her husband's headstone and counted 38 prairie dogs scurrying around.
"How can a rat be more important than a young man dying for his country?" asked Robinson, who pointed out repairs that were necessary to secure a headstone for a World War II serviceman, Lt. Lyle Robb. "Its not right. Its a matter of respect."
The cinnamon-colored rodent has been a source of frustration in recent years. Some say its protected status has hindered development and economic growth in one of state's fastest-growing areas.
About 95,000 prairie dogs lived in Utah during the 1920s, according to estimates. Aggressive campaigns to eradicate them and their burrows from farms, ranches and other lands put a deep dent in the population.
By the early 1970s, only about 3,000 were left, according to federal estimates. The population has been holding steady at about 10,000 over the last decade, officials said.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
