<rant>
Sometimes I wonder on what grounds species become protected.
I'm not up on the latest situation, but there was a flap about one particular sub-species of prairie dog being a "candidate" for the protected list, thus making it illegal to hunt them. It was really hard for the non-biologist to tell the difference, I think it was in the tail coloration, but all in all, prairie dogs were all over the place in vast colonies and vast numbers.
I had quit hunting them myself by then because of infirmities and the bureaucratic BS from the Division Of Wildlife involved in hunting varmints, so I quit following the issue, but all this made me question anything to do with "endangered" species.
It almost looked like the do-gooders were looking for any excuse to place species on the endangered or candidate for endangered species lists. Especially if they were cute and fuzzy.
<snarl>
<growl>
</rant>
Terry, 230RN