Your gophers are getting the strychnine again, eh?
Okay, listen, you know how we're always talking about the wind out here, how it just *never* quits? Well, there's another thing that never quits in Saskatchewan, and that's gophers. They're everywhere, eh? So, Health Canada just gave us and Alberta emergency approval to bring back strychnine to deal with them. Farmers are, oh for sure, clapping their hands about it, but some experts are saying, "Hold on a minute, this stuff can be pretty rough on other critters too."
This isn't just about some prairie dogs, you know. When you drive out past the Co-op refinery, heading east or west on the Trans-Canada, you see the fields, and those gophers, they can really mess up a crop. For a province built on agriculture, this isn't a small thing. But then you think about the wildlife around Wascana Lake, or even out near the Legislative Building, and you wonder, how far does this stuff spread, eh? It’s a balance, like so many things out here.
* **Why it matters to us:** Less crop damage means a better bottom line for our farmers, which ripples through the whole economy, from the Warehouse District businesses to the shops on Victoria Avenue. * **The downside:** There's a real worry about non-target animals getting poisoned. Think about the hawks and coyotes that are part of the ecosystem, eh?
This is Regina — yeah, we know what it sounds like, and we've heard your joke. Now sit down and listen. We're a practical people, but we care about our land, too. This isn't an easy answer, and it's definitely something we'll be chatting about over coffee down at Bushwakker for a while.
Darlene Chicken-Lawson, MiTL Sports Desk, Morning Wire.
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