Wyoming Legislator Pushes Back On Claim Shooting Prairie Dogs Is “Psychopathic”

A retired University of Wyoming professor called shooting prairie dogs “psychopathic behavior” during testimony before a legislative committee on Thursday — and one senator, who is also a rancher, pushed back. 

There was brief exchange between retired UW veterinary pathologist Donal O’Toole and Sen. Brian Boner, R-Douglas, who is a member of the Senate Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resource Committee. 

O’Toole, of Laramie, testified via zoom against House Bill 211 – which would allow shooting from vehicles at prairie dogs and other animals that some regard as pests. 

The committee voted unanimously to forward the bill to the Senate floor. 

‘Killing For Fun, Not For Food’

Prairie dogs aren’t vermin, but are a “keystone species, or pretty close to it,” O’Toole said. 

And although “misting” prairie dogs is a “culturally embedded practice,” in Wyoming, he doesn’t agree with it. 

“Killing for fun, not for food, is not normal behavior, not even for teenage boys. Then again, I’m surrounded by Wyoming adults who do it,” he said.

He went on to say that legislators should consider the broader implications of shooting prairie dogs – such as eagles and raptors suffering lead poisoning after eating the rodents’ carcasses. 

“You will surely pass this bill. Please consider the bigger picture – environmental contamination that affects our wildlife, and psychopathic behavior that affects our harvesters (hunters), enabled by Game and Fish officials,” he said.

Boner commented that O’Toole was wrong about shooting prairie dogs and was out of line for “disparaging” ranchers and hunters. 

Shooting prairie dogs is sometimes necessary to “manage a species which is extraordinarily damaging to the land,” he said. 

“I think it’s unfortunate when folks immediately cast disparaging assumptions onto members of the public,” Boner added.

O’Toole stood by his claim that there’s no need to kill prairie dogs, and ranchers are mistaken in the assumption that they damage rangeland.

“Many things that people ‘know for a fact are true,’ just ain’t so,” he said. 

Clearing Up Misconceptions

HB 211 sponsor Rep. Bill Allemand, R-Midwest, told the committee that there have been some misconceptions about his bill.

The idea that it would allow blasting away at any wildlife from a vehicle is wrong, he said. 

If HB 211 becomes law, it would still be illegal to shoot from a roadway or shoot any animal that requires a license to hunt or is a protected species, Allemand said. 

“Don’t shoot an antelope or a deer in June from a pickup, or outside your pickup, because it’s illegal and you’re out of season,” he said. 

“Never, ever shoot a bald eagle from inside your pickup, or outside your pickup, because that’s against federal law,” Allemand added. 

Wyoming Wildlife Advocates Executive Director Kristin Combs testified against the bill, noting that “vehicular killing has been a pretty big topic so far in Wyoming.”

There has been a push to ban running over wolves and coyotes with snowmobiles. 

Like O’Toole, Combs said that prairie dogs get a bad rap. 

“I feel like I would be remiss if I wasn’t speaking up for prairie dogs and marmots and other small critters that this bill kind of takes aim at,” she said. 

Carlton Tyre told the committee that he’s the one of the hunters who reached out to Allemand to write and sponsor the bill. 

He said he was shocked to find out that shooting prairie dogs from a pickup was illegal, and punishable by a $10,000 fine and/or a year in jail. 

“It (shooting prairie dogs from trucks) is a common practice in Wyoming, and heck, other places,” he said.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.