One Man`s Pet is Another`s Pest

Snoopy and Prairie Dogs I had a very cool pet growing up named Snoopy. And He just happened to be a rat. Snoopy's legacy got me thinking that while rats are sold as pets you just don't hear of animal activist fighting to protect them, in fact urbanites could cares less if rats are cruelly killed because they have been labeled pests! Seems hypocritical then that the same city dwellers become outraged if a rancher kills his pests, prairie dogs. I guess farmers and ranchers are supposed to simply put up with the destruction. As one rancher so eloquently stated for a New York Times reporter "it would be like a bunch of cowboys coming to New York and saying 'lets save the rats'." Part of the hoopla over prairie dogs is that they are the favorite meal of the rare black footed ferret, so environmentalists have their fingers crossed that new federal management plan will offer prairie dog protection.. If who eats you is the criteria for protection, I would hazard to guess that some of Snoopys cousins became dessert for that celebrated pair of red-tailed hawks living high above Fifth Avenue that brought animal activist out of the woodwork. Guess its all in your perspective. . Source: New York T 07/23 05 Endangered Ferret needs It's Prey, furthering ranchers Woes by Michael Wilson