4/20/00

By: Marie Chestney

Wearing his prairie dog T-shirt, Robert Beair holds up Bobbi, who would have been killed when her “town” was destroyed if it hadn’t been for the efforts of prairie dog protectionists. (NEWS-REVIEW photo by Marie Chestney)

A ruling by the Fish and Wildlife Service in early February has left a Petoskey couple more certain than ever they will continue their fight to save prairie dogs by getting them named a threatened species.

On a website that pays homage to the small critter that once had colonies from Canada to Mexico, Robert and Jill Beair wage their fight daily on the Internet.

It’s not unusual for the couple to come home from work and find 100 e-mails from other prairie dog fans around the world.

“There’s a big controversy over them,” said Robert Beair, a local graphic artist and 1985 graduate of Elk Rapids High School. “People either like them, or they don’t.”

The Beairs are dismayed by the Fish and Wildlife Service’s ruling earlier this month that the prairie dog must wait its turn in being named an endangered species.

There are too many other plants and animals that are in more danger of facing extinction, the service said, and it could only fight so many battles at one time.

The ruling went against a recommendation from the Clinton administration, which had said the blacktailed prairie dog warrants protection as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Ranchers and developers in the flat prairie states view prairie dogs as a pest that uproots grass and destroys hayfields while building tunnels underground.

On his website, through cartoons, commentary, photos of prairie dogs from around the world, and background information, Beair shows where his loyalty lies.

His website www.angelfire.com/id/beairpaw/index.html started out as a way to promote his professional skills and hobbies. But when Andy the prairie dog joined the family two-and-a-half years ago, homage to the critter on the website took over.

Before buying Andy, the Beairs researched the breed and did a lot of thinking about whether they wanted to take on an animal that needs a lot of attention. They visited a pet store numerous times before bringing Andy back to their Lake Street house.

“It took six weeks to pick Andy,” said Jill Beair, a 1988 Pellston High School graduate and saleswoman for Perry Sherwood Gallery in Petoskey. “You need to get one who’s friendly and who really likes you. You have to let a prairie dog pick you. You don’t pick them.”

Thus began their adventure in learning how to cope with a critter that needs to be litter box trained, likes to chew and have the run of the house, is fastidious, and sometimes sulks, chatters or drops his head when uphappy with his human family.

With no reason to feel himself in danger, Andy doesn’t bark, a sound which gave him part of his name. But he does “Yahoo,” a sound of happiness he makes when the Beairs return home from work.

Through his website, Beair has gotten to know many prairie dog lovers worldwide who are working to protect the species.

The Beairs decided to take on a female, named Bobbi. When they got Bobbi, she was just weeks old, and still being handfed with a dropper.

Dethroned from being the center of attention, Andy was not happy. In fact, he was downright jealous. To keep the peace, the Beairs needed two cages, one for Andy, one for Bobbi.

But, as they say, time heals all wounds.

“He was mad at us for bringing her into the house,” Jill Beair said. “She would want to play. He didn’t, and was irritated. But he had to learn to accept it. Now, they sleep together.”

The Beairs have two prairie dogs with two distinct personalities. Andy, who is neutered, likes to cuddle, and chatters when he doesn’t get what he wants. He also is apt to show up on the Beairs’ bed, and settle down there for the night.

Bobbi, intensely curious, doesn’t need cuddling as much as she needs the chance to be left on her own to explore.

“When they come out of the cage, they don’t hang around together,” Robert Beair said.

From Japan to Belgium, prairie dogs have captured the hearts of folks from around the world. And when their beloved pet dies, they e-mail Robert Beair, who has an “in memory of” page on his website.

“The dogs have a huge family out there, and these people have become a part of our family,” Jill Beair said. “When one dies, it breaks your heart”.

Where the Beairs see a lovable critter, ranchers out west see a varmint and pest who eats hay their cattle should be eating. Cartoons on Beair’s website decry the shooting and poisoning of the prairie dogs.

“They’re sitting clay pigeons,” Jill Beair said.

If the killing continues, Robert Beair said, the whole ecosystem of the prairie will be affected, including the future of mountain plover, owls, foxes and black-footed ferrets, all of whom depend on the dogs either for food or for nesting in their abandoned tunnels.

“They’re not just killing off one species; they’re doing a lot of harm to other species,” Robert Beair said. “If they are exterminated, others will go, too. They are a keystone to the ecosystem.”

Biologists say the prairie dog’s habitant has been reduced to about a million acres.

Eight Western states — Arizona, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming — have agreed to come up with a plan by next year for monitoring and protecting the animal.

The Fish and Wildlife service has agreed to annually review prairie dogs, to determine if they should be removed from the endangered species candidate list, or moved up in priority.

“We were able to save two of them,” Jill Beair said. “They would have been killed if they had stayed where they were.”

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