4 ms·
I recall being on a road trip and was at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains; was getting ready to camp at a random camp site and noticed a sign warnin
by slicktux 1y ago
I recall being on a road trip and was at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains; was getting ready to camp at a random camp site and noticed a sign warning or squirrels that carry bubonic plague via fleas…
Scary..
- kulahan 1y agoIt’s not usually very bad. My wife used to do epidemiology in Utah, and the four corner states have a few plague cases every year. Very easy to get from prairie dogs as well. Iirc, prairie dog colonies are separated based on which ones have the plague and which don’t.
- ugh123 1y ago> Iirc, prairie dog colonies are separated based on which ones have the plague and which don’t. Do you mean 'naturally' by their own selection, or some external means?
- afiori 1y agoI read it as someone keeps track of it for public safety
- __MatrixMan__ 1y agoI hope that the black footed ferret reintroduction efforts are successful (https://www.fws.gov/project/black-footed-ferret-recovery https://www.fws.gov/project/black-footed-ferret-recovery). There would be a lot less plague out there if so. Lime disease has a similar relationship with predators that eat mice, so let's also keep an eye out for the owls and snakes.
- benterris 1y agoHow would reintroducing the black footed ferret reduce the plague ? It's not stated in that link.
- Steven420 1y agoPossibly by reducing prairie dog numbers and concentration
- pfdietz 1y agoThey reduce the density of prairie dogs.
- dreamcompiler 1y agoBFFs eat prairie dogs.
- biohcacker84 1y agoReducing prairie dog concentrations, and most often killing the weaker slower ones, which are likely infected and showing the most symptoms. Reduces spread and increases evolutionary pressure to increase resistance and possibly even become immune.
- atomicnumber3 1y agoWhen you say it's easy to get from prairie dogs, how exactly does that happen? Is it like, you're camping, and a prairie dog gets into your tent? How exactly does that people get exposed to a prairie dog?
- 317070 1y agoIt's not the prairie dogs themselves, but the fleas on the dogs. The carriers for the plague are fleas.
- MangoToupe 1y agoYes, but every case I've heard of involved direct contact with the prairie dog. I can't imagine the fleas are that mobile without them.
- kulahan 1y agoIt’s pretty easy to get close to prairie dogs over time. They will eventually learn you’re not a threat, and tell the others. So you’re going on a walk one day, they seem friendly, people like handling cute animals… bada big bada boom
- dreamcompiler 1y agoIt's usually people whose job (or I guess hobby) involves managing prairie dogs. It's not usually ordinary civilians.