Pay Attention To Your Dog When In the Wilderness (Hayden: home, to live in)

[banjomike]

After reading of a bubonic plague outbreak in China, I realized this is a needed subject here.

Idaho's ground-dwelling rodents, all of them in the marmot family, have suffered a bubonic plague epidemic that began at least 5 years ago.

The plague can infect marmots, our ground squirrels (which are often mistaken for gophers, but they're different), and other members of the marmot family. Idaho has at least 2 major species of large ground squirrels, and a 3rd. small species folks here call chipmunks.

I don't know how hard our ground squirrel population has been hit for sure, but it's been hard. A decade ago, during our droughty years, the ground squirrels flourished. They always rise in population during dry summers and light winters.

The bubonic plague is a bacteria, and there are several antibiotics that can stop it very effectively in humans.

A human isn't likely to catch it from a ground squirrel unless a dead squirrel is handled. The squirrels do not attack humans. But they have always been popular varmint shooting targets, along with the marmots.

Dogs can catch the plague if they catch a squirrel, and could possibly pass it on to a human, so be very watchful of your dogs out in the wilderness. An alert dog can certainly catch and kill a ground squirrel.

After one success, a dog will often learn to hunt them. I once counted a dog kill 20 of them when he came with us on a hike in the high country.

The plague can definitely kill a dog; our native ferrets are on the threatened species list due to the bubonic plague. The ground squirrel is the ferret's main prey species and the two are highly evolved as predator and prey. The plague has both wiped out the big numbers of squirrels and has killed some of the ferrets directly. So they are dying off from one cause in two different ways.

The ground squirrels aren't like prairie dogs; while they burrow in similar areas to prairie dogs, the squirrels don't socialize with each other as the prairie dog does, and are almost always found singly, rather than in a group. They don't build the mounds the prairie dogs build, so their burrows are harder to spot under ground cover.

So- keep an eye on your pup when out in the boonies, and make sure it will come back to you as soon as you call before you allow them to ramble around un-leashed. And don't handle a dead squirrel with your bare hands. Or bring a dead marmot back home to show the kids.

The bubonic plague isn't the killer it once was, but it can still kill a person who's unaware of its existence here.

It's not just here in Idaho, either. It's in N. California, Oregon and Montana and throughout the west in scattered spots. When in doubt, talk to our Fish & Game for information. Better a long leash than a dead dog.

[Mister Torgue]

Thank you for this topic. It is something I wouldn’t of thought of.

[nowhereman427]

Thanks for that info.

[banjomike]

I tried not to be an alarmist, but the threat is real, especially to dogs, and, as I mentioned, the plague is all over the Mountain West.

With the Covid virus' presence, I thought the bubonic plague could be easily overlooked. And though it's not the human killer it once was, it's still lethal, and if someone caught it right now, it could be very bad if the local hospital was jammed with Covid patients.

The thought hit me over the 4th, when I noticed one of our dogs lost his interest after checking out a burrow hole.
Those dogs are very experienced with the squirrels, so I suspected that burrow had some dead squirrels in it.

All our dogs know they will be yelled at if they chase them now, so the dogs have been a lot more restrained than in the past. They obey us because they want to be with us having dog fun, but if they disobey, they'll spend the day sitting in a pickup bed instead.
For dogs, that's like a trip to Disneyland and no ticket for them. We stopped their squirrel hunting at least 3 or 4 years ago.

But newcomers or city folks haven't been informed at all of this problem, so I thought it was needed here. Going out into the wild is still safe, but a person has to be alert for themselves and their dogs.

[mistyriver]

I used to live in northern AZ on a place rife with prairie dogs. That brought two problems: rattlesnakes and the worry of Bubonic Plague.
The Flagstaff Medical Center usually sees a case or two of Plague most years. It’s endemic in the Four Corners region. We worried that our dogs would catch the fleas that transmit it so used flea control on them. But the vets told us that while dogs can catch it, they are less likely to because they have a high resistance to the bacteria. If they do, they could likely be asymptomatic.
Cats on the other hand are highly susceptible and become quite ill from Plague. Their sneezes can infect humans easily.

[volosong]

Thanks for the warning. The only ground rodents I've seen around here is in the city park. And dogs have to be leashed there. The squirrels are also smart enough to not get too far away from a tree.

What is really starting to concern me is the coyotes. My pups are on the smaller size, about 15 pounds each. They love being off-leash in the forest. So many new smells! They usually stick fairly close to me, that is until they spy a white-tail or some quail. Then they are off and no stopping them.

One day while out for a walk, I spied a coyote in the distant brush. He wasn't particularily interested in us and the dogs didn't see him, but I quickly leashed them up and have avoided that area since.

I think it is time for some professional obedience training.

[couch coyote]

This is so helpful! Thanks very much, banjomike!

We don't know what we don't know. I had a chance to drive around Lake Tahoe, and at every rest stop there were signs warning not to feed the chipmunks, as they carried plague. That was a shock. Naively, I thought plague died out in the middle ages, along with half the population of Europe.

Then a few years ago I was photographing prairie dogs in the Badlands. When I zoomed in on my pics later, I could see they had icky green discharge from their eyes and noses. It took a lot of Photoshopping to make them cute again. Yet places sell bags of food for us tourists to feed the prairie dogs. I guess there's no substitute for doing our homework before we venture off into a new environment.

[oldafretired]

There's a lot of ground squirrels holes in my yard near Spirit Lake this year. I've seen a lot of Columbian ground squirrels running across the roads around here recently. Weird thing is they seem to disappear every year during late summer. I better start carrying my suppressed 10/22 around.



Another thing about taking your pet for a walk is that later in the year during the fall and winter, trapping season starts. They can put traps for animals like wolves within 10 feet of a maintained trail so if you have a long leash, your pet might encounter a trap which wouldn't be good. Got to be careful up here.

[volosong]

Originally Posted by oldafretired

Another thing about taking your pet for a walk is that later in the year during the fall and winter, trapping season starts. They can put traps for animals like wolves within 10 feet of a maintained trail so if you have a long leash, your pet might encounter a trap which wouldn't be good. Got to be careful up here.

Good thing of which to be aware. Thankfully, I walk the pups in Farragut State Park. I would hope trapping is not allowed there, but I'll check.

[oldafretired]

Originally Posted by volosong

Good thing of which to be aware. Thankfully, I walk the pups in Farragut State Park. I would hope trapping is not allowed there, but I'll check.

I think I recall that you like to shoot. If so, the range at Farragut is open now Friday-Monday. It's $5 and no park fee. They have a 50 yard handgun range, a 100 yard range, and a 200 yard range. They're trying to open a 600 yard range but there's some kind of law suit they have to get over. Yup, even up here. The RSOs are pretty much all volunteers and are very helpful. You might give the place a try.

BTW, I went to the Hayden Creek shooting area once and most likely won't go there again. That dirt road was terrible with giant potholes. Lots of trash at the shooting area.

Shoshone County Range at Smelterville is nice but is kind of a long drive. They are open every day and the RO there is usually absent so you're free to do what you want. It was pretty empty every time I went during the week. It's a nice place.