Watching Them Slowly Disappear

I moved away from the Front Range of Colorado in 1972. At that time there was quite a bit of open space in between the cities and towns along the I-25 corridor. Periodically over the years since leaving I have been making trips to visit friends and relatives in Colorado and Wyoming. At every visit I have watched those open spaces slowly start to shrink and close. It's a lot like watching a group of frogs in a pot of water very slowly heating up on a stove. Most of the frogs don't realize the water is suddenly boiling before it is much too late. Some of the frogs do feel the heat and they jump out. Similarly and luckily some city and county governments along the Front Range had foresight and established open space and parks for the people and wildlife to enjoy. Sadly that is not the case for the Prairie dogs pictured here. This Prairie dog colony on the east side of Loveland, Colorado near Denver Ave and East First Street is about to disappear. A couple of years ago when I visited there was a big for sale sign up on the property. When I visited this time in early September there was a sold sign and grade stakes had been set showing that they were getting it ready for construction. These images are most likely going to be the last Prairie Dog images that I will ever take here. It is so sad to see them disappear. We are stewards of the land that God has given us and we need to be mindful how we care for it. I can only hope that the company that now owns this property does the right thing and traps and relocates these Prairie Dogs and doesn't just bulldoze them under.BTW the survival rate for relocated Praire Dogs isn't that great. God bless, chris All images were photographed from my rental car with a Canon 7DmkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens #TeamCanon