Prairie Dog Sucker Upper Going Strong

Prairie Dog Sucker Upper Going Strong MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Pest Animals 20-5-4 Five years ago FARM SHOW reported on the "Prairie Dog Sucker Upper" invented by Cortez, Colo., resident Gay Balfour (Vol. 15, No. 5). The machine, which was built out of a vacuum- powered street sweeper, sucks prairie dogs, gophers, moles and other underground rodents out of their holes and into the back of the enclosed truck where they're gassed and disposed of. The article generated tremendous interest from all over North America. Now, Balfour and his partner, Dave Honaker, have added a new international wrinkle to their prairie dog removal business, which they call "Dog-Gone." What happened is that a market for prairie dog pups opened up in Japan. They've sold more than 600 pups to an exporter for $25 apiece. The exporter sells the pups for as much as $1,000 a pair in Japan, where they're rapidly becoming trendy pets. In order to "harvest" the pups success-fully, the men heavily padded the inside of the truck with soft foam rubber. In the meantime, Balfour and Honaker continue to remove adult prairie dogs and other pest animals all over the country. Going rate is $1,000 a day and the machine can clear about 20 acres a day, or as many as 800 holes, each of which can contain two or three prairie dogs. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, "Dog-Gone", 36 North Madison St., Cortez, Colo. 81321 (ph 970 565-9878).

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