Product Details

• Actors: U.S. Government, black-footed ferrets, bison, hunters, ranchers
• Directors: Doug Hawes-Davis
• Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: High Plains Films
• VHS Release Date: October 1, 1998
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1560297840
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #672,000 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The Coloradoan

"Gripping...Varmints is the Schindler's List of wildlife documentaries."

Product Description

"Varmints is a powerful, engaging, and surprisingly humorous expose of the strained relations between people and wildlife in the American West...Hawes-Davis artfully unravels the controversy this unassuming little rodent, leaving viewers to ponder questions about the ethics of hunting for sport and our relentless efforts to manipulate the natural world." Camas Journal

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disrespect for the Lord's creation., February 19, 2007

By 

Preston C. Enright (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Varmints (DVD)

"Varmints" is about the relentless attack on prairie dogs. Sometimes with poison gas, sometimes by "sport" hunters, sometimes by the destruction of their habitat. It was interesting to hear the different rationales people have for wanting them dead; and then to hear from others about how feeble the rationales are. It reminds me of how people are propagandized to go to war. . . there's always a campaign to devalue the lives of "the other," including derogatory labels (i.e. - "Islamo-fascists," "illegals," "varmints"). And as with our wars against people, this war against communities of animals is a big revenue generator for the gun industry. Some gun-makers have special models like "The Varmint Hunter," and each year millions of rounds of bullets are shot across the plains where prairie dogs live. The film speaks with hunters, ranchers, and wildlife biologists who have studied these creatures. It was interesting to learn that the prairie dogs have a particular squeak they make when they see a person, and another squeak for when they see a person with a gun.

Hopefully, with a growing environmental movement - including evangelical "creation care" activists - this sort of sadistic destruction of a species will be outgrown.
I'd also recommend the other documentaries that "High Plains Films" has made ("The Naturalist," "Killing Coyote" and others).

Grandfather Great Spirit
All over the world the faces of living ones are alike.
With tenderness they have come up out of the ground.
Look upon your children that they may face the winds
and walk the good road to the Day of Quiet.
Grandfather Great Spirit
Fill us with the Light.
Give us the strength to understand,
and the eyes to see.
Teach us to walk the soft Earth as relatives
to all that live.
-Lakota Prayer

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem of a film on a wildlife issue: "varmints", varmint hunting, and the ecological role of prairie dogs, January 22, 2010

By 

R Schmidt (Honolulu, HI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Varmints (DVD)

High Plains Films is synonymous with high quality, well-produced films with environmental themes. Varmints (a Doug Hawes-Davis documentary) is no exception.

Do prairie dogs have a value above and beyond being a "living target"? Are our western prairies impoverished because prairie dog distribution is greatly reduced over what it was 200 years ago?

These and other important issues are addressed in this film. Ironically, the disturbing footage isn't the same for everybody. For some, it is the actual footage of dogs being blown into a red mist. For others, it is actual footage of 1930 government programs designed to kill millions of varmints. And others still will be offended at the attacks on a cherished form of recreation.

I have this DVD and the VHS version. The DVD contains both the VHS 57 minute version, and a longer 91 minute version.

This is a great movie, along with Killing Coyote, to get high school and college students in a heated discussion about the varied relationships that people have with wildlife.

And the music by Ned Mudd is terrific!

5.0 out of 5 stars film for ecology class, September 2, 2011

By 

savy shopper (Evansville) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Varmints (DVD)

students love watching this video and it gives a realistic and gritty look at attitudes about other living things. It also fits in ecological theory in a way that is useful for a college level ecology class. Highly recommend.