Loveland developer built a prairie dog town

Residential developers Ken Mitchell and Tony Vienna built a small neighborhood within their west Loveland community: a network of burrows and grassland for prairie dogs.

Working with the volunteers from Prairie Dog Coalition of the Humane Society of the United States and Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the team moved 120 prairie dogs from their burrows to make way for 76 houses for humans in the Parkside development south of Mariana Butte golf course.

But instead of simply taking the land away from the animals, the developers created new habitat for them in a natural area that overlooks Boedecker Lake.

They found a way to maintain a natural balance that they say will benefit the entire ecosystem of people and animals, said Mitchell, with Mosaic Land Development Services.

Homeowners in the neighborhood will pay about $2.50 more per month because of the costs associated with relocating the prairie dogs, Mitchell said. But they will gain much more, he said.

Standing near the relocated colony, Vienna, also with Mosaic, pointed out at least four raptors soaring in the blue sky near Boedecker Lake, a view people love — and a species that would not be able to thrive in that area without a food source.

“The prairie dog’s main importance is food for the raptors,” Vienna said. “It’s not just that people are trying to save a rodent. It’s the circle of life. You’ve got to keep the prairie dogs alive to provide food for raptors, to provide food for coyotes. It’s perpetual motion.”

The project cost about $40,000 plus staff time, but it was the right thing to do, Vienna said.

Courtesy of Ken Mitchell Pam Wanek, a consultant to the Prairie Dog Coalition, at the release of prairie dogs to a humanbuilt colony in a subdivision near Boedecker Lake in Loveland.