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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RUSSELL SPRINGS -- A cattleman who regards prairie dogs as an essential cog in the northwest Kansas ecosystem said Thursday he remains hopeful that Logan County will abandon plans to kill the rodents on his acreage with poison.

Larry Haverfield, 70, had been given until Wednesday to move his herds so that contractors could enter his property and apply a chemical to exterminate the prairie dogs. Otherwise, he was told, the county would enter the land and start spreading a far more expensive poison that can be used while cattle are present -- and would bill him for the higher cost.

But Wednesday and most of Thursday passed without any sign of exterminators, Haverfield said, and he hoped the county was changing course. The Logan County attorney was in a trial Thursday and could not be reached for comment.

Haverfield's argument has to do not only with saving prairie dogs, but also with a federal plan for reintroducing the endangered black-footed ferret to the region.

Prairie dogs are essential to the ferrets' diet. And while most Logan County landowners don't want either animal on their property, both would be welcomed on the roughly 6,000 acres owned by Haverfield and the adjacent 2,000 acres leased by Gordon Barnhardt.

''We don't want to kill our prairie dogs,'' Haverfield said. ''We don't mind if the neighbors do, but we believe they're part of our ecosystem. We believe they're necessary for healthy grasslands.''

While on the lookout Wednesday for county exterminators, Haverfield said, he and his supporters spotted some of the prairie dog's natural enemies -- including two bald eagles, one golden eagle and several ferruginous hawks.

''We have a lot of wildlife here,'' Haverfield said. ''And the prairie dogs keep the activity pretty steady.''

Haverfield, who has raised cattle on the land for 50 years and currently runs six herds, remains hopeful the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will proceed with reintroducing the black-footed ferret on his spread. But he acknowledged some discouragement Wednesday.

''They said chances might be slim,'' Haverfield said of plans to reintroduce the ferrets.

He was referring to the Smoky Valley Ranch in eastern Logan County that is owned by the Nature Conservancy.

That group has signed an agreement with the federal wildlife agency for the reintroduction of the ferrets, as have Haverfield and Barnhardt.

Although he hopes it won't be necessary, Haverfield is prepared for legal action. He and Barnhardt are being represented by Wichita attorney Randy Rathbun, the former U.S. attorney for Kansas who now specializes in environmental law.