CEDAR CITY - Kolob Regional Care and Rehabilitation Center has some unwanted residents - Utah prairie dogs.
Kolob Regional Director Glade Hamilton said the burrowing rodents have been getting into the skilled nursing facility through a patio used by residents. The 50-foot by 50-foot patio at the rear of the facility at 411 W. 1325 North in Cedar City has been lined with chicken wire to keep the federally protected prairie dogs away from residents. However, Hamilton said the rodents are climbing over the barrier.
The Utah prairie dog is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits injuring, killing or otherwise removing the animals without a penalty. Violations of the ESA can result in both fines and court-mandated injunctions. Civil fines are capped at $25,000 for each violation. Criminal violations can result in imprisonment for up to one year for each violation and fines of up to $100,000 for individuals and as much as $200,000 for businesses.
"Some of the problem stems from residents who have dementia, or are confused, feeding the animals," Hamilton said. "I've told them absolutely not to feed the prairie dogs, but they forget and some think they are cute and toss them a few crusts of bread and then they get into the facility."
The patio connects to two large dining halls that lead to residents' rooms. Hamilton said staff have tried to get the prairie dogs out of the dining halls a few times by catching them with a dustpan and putting them over the wire fence. He emphasized that the prairie dogs have not infiltrated any of the facility's residential rooms.
"I was afraid a prairie dog would bite a resident or one of my staff, so I finally said enough was enough and called (the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources) three different times to help us get the rodents out of the patio area," Hamilton said.
Adam Kavalunas, a DWR biologist and Iron County Habitat Conservation Plan administrator, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife granted the DWR approval to remove prairie dogs from Kolob Regional.
"We typically don't remove prairie dogs out of the trapping window after Aug. 31, but because of the close proximity to the public and the sensitive situation, and the weather is OK now and the dogs are not hibernating yet, it was deemed advantageous to trap a few dogs around Kolob," Kavalunas said.
Seven prairie dogs were trapped Tuesday, four were trapped Thursday and trapping continued Friday, Kavalunas said. The animals were relocated to a prairie dog conservation site that is approximately 20 miles northwest of Cedar City between Minersville and the Iron County line, he added.
Hamilton said prairie dog colonies occupy a majority of undeveloped property owned by Kolob Regional located west of the current facility and adjacent to Valley View Medical Center. Undeveloped property south of the Kolob Regional is also occupied by a large colony of the rodents, he said.
"The dogs have become so people-friendly they will come up to you and nibble at your shoe," Hamilton said. "They have fleas that could easily jump on a resident that carry disease, so I want to keep them as far away as I can."
Hamilton said while he is glad the DWR is removing some of the animals, he is afraid the removal won't do much good because prairie dogs have three to four pups per liter.
"If they trap 10 or 15, those will be multiplied over the winter and we'll have more next spring," Hamilton said. "DWR wants us to build a wall, but that cages the residents in and I don't want to do that. They also want me to remove the bird feeders because they said the dogs get up there and eat the seeds out of the feeders, but I don't want to do that either. I don't want to penalize my people who enjoy bird watching. I'd just like the rodents removed to a place where there are no people."
