Do prairie dogs die when they eat bubblegum?

Question

There are many sources on the internet which claim that prairie dogs can be exterminated using bubblegum:

Source 1:

prairie dogs are handled with poison or bazooka joe bubble gum, of which the dogs chew and can't swallow because it gets caught in their teeth. They choke to death.

Source 2:

Bubble Gum! Go to Sam's Club and buy a bucket of Bubble Gum an unrap it and scatter it out, the prarie dogs eat it and can't digest it and they die.

Source 3:

Bubble gum does work and is fairly inexpensive. You need to have a little moisture in the ground, but those little bass turds can't pass the gum and it kills them. You can buy those big bags of that cheap halloween gum real cheap at this time of the year.

Is it true that eating bubblegum kills prairie dogs?

Answer 1

According to Summary of Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Colony Mapping Efforts at Five Colony Complexes in Central and Southeastern Montana (2012):

From our North Dakota experience, we have concluded that ranchers prefer to poison prairie dogs with toxicants other than zinc phosphide. In North Dakota during 2002, we found people using bubble gum (not very effective), water melon rind soaked in antifreeze (not very effective), anhydrous ammonia (extremely dangerous), strychnine (not registered for use on prairie dogs) and the propane cannon (dangerous and very slow) rather than zinc phosphide. Although zinc phosphide is an effective poison when applied properly, it has developed a poor reputation among ranchers. Complaints we have heard about zinc phosphide are: 1) poor levels of control (some ranchers don’t believe in pre-baiting), 2) too much labor because of pre-baiting, 3) grain bait is neutralized by precipitation (failed to check a weather forecast prior to application), 4) zinc phosphide has a short shelf life if not stored properly, and 5) it requires that the rancher have a pesticide applicator certification (too much red tape). Also, ranchers who have used strychnine to poison prairie dogs are accustomed to seeing dead and dying prairie dogs on the surface before they have even finished applying the treated grain bait, while prairie dogs poisoned with zinc phosphide die in their burrows hours later creating the impression that zinc phosphide is not an effective poison.