Prairie dogs to become hawk food

BROOMFIELD, Colo., Jan. 15 (UPI) -- A Colorado town plans to kill prairie dogs living on the site of a proposed reservoir and feed them to injured birds of prey.

There are believed to be about 400 prairie dogs on the reservoir site to be converted into hawk chow, The Denver Post reported.

The Broomfield City Council approved the plan last month.

This week, the prairie dogs will be trapped, killed with carbon monoxide, frozen and then given to the Birds of Prey Foundation, which cares for injured raptors.

Councilman Randy Ahrens told the newspaper he thinks Broomfield is spending too much on the prairie dogs, opining the ones on the site should simply be killed.

"I support having prairie dogs to a certain extent; I know they support other important species," Ahrens said. "But just two prairie dogs can turn into 128 prairie dogs pretty quickly."

City officials say relocating the prairie dogs is not practical because most other towns have all the prairie dogs they can handle.