In the passage, it states that prairie dogs are harmful for several reasons. The lecture rebuts the reading by stating reasons as to why the reading is wrong. The reading states that prairie dogs’ burrows erode the soil, these animals may infect people with fatal diseases, and lastly that they have a negative effect on the foods of livestock. In the reading, it states that the burrows that prairie dogs dig are harmful to the land. It says that the holes erode the soil and damage it. However, the professor of the lecture points out that these burrows prevent erosion rather than making erosion occur. The professor mentions that when these animals dig their burrows, it loosens the soil preventing the topsoil from washing away in the rain. Also, the reading states the fact that prairie dogs infect people with fatal diseases. For example, the animals have an immune system to the bubonic plague, so when prairie dogs bite humans they might infect the person who is bitten. On the contrary, the lecturer says that it is not prairie dogs who infect people with this disease, the ones responsible for infecting people are mostly rodents. Also, the professor points out that prairie dogs tend to avoid humans and not interact with them. Lastly, the reading passage states that prairie dogs have a negative effect on the food supply of livestock. The passage states in some areas prairie dogs can consume up to 90% of the vegetation, and that the ranchers are forced to buy food for nutrients to supply their animals. On the other hand, the lecture concludes that with prairie dogs consuming the old less nutritious plants, the livestock is provided with new and fresh plants to graze on. |