the idea came to gay balfour in a dream - build a vacuum system strong enough to suck prarie dogs from their burrows and the business would boom. he did and it has. balfour vacuums prarie dogs from their holes in urban areas or farms. the animals are deposited alive "but somewhat confused" in a large tank in his truck. "it causes them no harm," balfour said thursday from his southwestern colorado home. "there's no poisons or gas used, strictly vacuum. it takes the little critter up and puts him in a tank, and there he can either be relocated or dispatched, whatever's necessary to do." he said the animals go up a tube 4 inches in diameter and about 50 feet long, and then slide along a padded deflector plate and down into the tank. by the time workers stop the suction device to check the holding tank, the animals are already beginning to play and colonize in the dirt that gets sucked up with them. "they're not too disturbed by it," balfour said. "it's quite a ride." balfour said the idea for dog-gone came to him in a dream. "i saw a large yellow vehicle and there were green hoses running from it," he said. "i was putting the hoses in the ground, sucking out prarie dogs." after acquiring a converted septic truck, balfour went shopping for hose. when he walked into an industrial supply shop and the clerk pointed out bright green flexible tubing, he "got a chill." his business began operating early last summer. his first job was to remove a colony of prarie dogs from a plot of land the ute mountain ute indian tribe planned to use for experimental corn crops. "it was really successful," balfour said. "we got about 53 dogs in an hour and 23 minutes." dog-gone has caught on quickly and has been used throughout the southwest. his clients are often skeptical at first. richard roskowinski, director of parks and recreation in durango, said he fell on the floor laughing when he heard about it. "when i finally got up, i decided, hey, this is great," roskowinski said. "we don't want to kill anything that's fuzzy and cute." ---- questions : is there a v2.0 being released soon that will have a higher PDPM rating than the current .683 PDPM's? (PDPM = prarie dogs per minute) will we see a hair-cutting attachment, like the late night tv ad? so that, once they arrive in the little tank, even if they are confused, all of their hair will amazingly be **PRECISELY CUT TO THE SAME LENGTH**??? ---- and, i saw this one next to it, in the little "what's inside" section next to it : "Comforting Business : Liz Ence's prototype child's sweater has grown into big business. - Trends, A-19" wow, if her prototype child can make big business out of a sweater, imagine what the final version of her child will be able to do! ---- ---mike