They're fuzzy.

They're cute and cuddly.

They carry the plague.

Prairie dogs also can rival the grass consumption of cattle, said Deena McDaniels, manager of the Natrona County Conservation District.

The district has mounted a program to control prairie dogs through poisoning and natural predators, although an environmental group disputes the effectiveness of such programs.

Prairie dogs in Natrona County have expanded their territory as the long-running drought has forced them to seek greener pastures.

Then they eat them.

The loss of vegetation causes erosion, which increases silting in streams and degrades water quality, said Kelly Burch, a rancher working with the Natrona County Rangeland Management group to control prairie dogs.

Likewise, the vegetation loss strips land of protection from the wind and degrades air quality, Burch said.

Fleas carrying the plague take up residence in prairie dogs' fur, he said.

The fleas pose health risks to humans and their pets, he said.

"Anyone who lives in the city should be concerned because they've moved into the city," Burch said.

So the conservation district, working with other agencies, is developing a long-range plan to control prairie dogs, McDaniels said.

"It's a landowner-driven program," she said.

The Natrona County Conservation District has received $20,000 from the Natrona County Commission and another $50,000 from the Natrona County Weed and Pest Control District for control efforts, primarily by poisoning, McDaniels said.

She hopes funding will be available for five years to implement the control program throughout the county, she said.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is working with the conservation district, too, McDaniels said.

The BLM does not allow poisoning on its lands leased by ranchers, so it encourages natural control methods such as erecting raptor poles to attract predatory birds, McDaniels said.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is explaining studies of previous control efforts, she added.

The conservation district isn't bent on annihilating prairie dogs, McDaniels and Burch said.

Wyoming has a mandate to maintain 220,000 acres of prairie dog habitat, because the rodents are food for other animals, McDaniels said.

However, Erik Molvar of the Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance disputes the immediate economic efficiency of widespread prairie dog control and questions the long-term environmental effects.

"It costs more to administer a prairie dog poisoning campaign than any value you would save in terms of livestock," Molvar said.

Prairie dogs are food for ferruginous hawks, golden eagles, swift foxes and black-footed ferrets, he said.

The 220,000 acres set aside for prairie dog habitat pale compared to when the entire Great Plains hosted the animals, Molvar said.

The Natrona County Conservation District would do well to adopt the practices of ranchers who have learned to manage their operations and live with the prairie dogs, he said.

Molvar also cautioned that mass elimination of prairie dogs could lead to their listing on the Endangered Species List, which would cause other problems, he said. "To me, it's counterproductive."

Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at Tom.Morton@trib.com.