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Wyoming Rancher Claims He Hooked His Home to a Natural Gas Source Inside a Prairie Dog Hole

By: Author Lauren Wellbank

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Wyoming Rancher Claims He Hooked His Home to a Natural Gas Source Inside a Prairie Dog Hole

Just about everyone is complaining about the rising costs of everyday items right now, and that includes essentials like utilities. But one Wyoming rancher has claimed to have found a workaround to his gas bill. At least that’s what the Casper Planet Facebook page claims.

According to an Aug. 29, 2026 post, an unnamed rancher was discovered to have been heating his home using natural gas he sourced from an unusual location: a prairie dog hole. “The discovery was made after the utility company noticed the rancher’s natural gas usage had remained at zero for nearly seven years despite the home being occupied year-round,” the post claimed.

But the rancher allegedly made his discovery in the most surprising way, since the post claims he first noticed something unusual was happening with the prairie dog hole after seeing water bubbling out of it during a heavy rain.

Now people are speculating about the truth of the post online, wondering if it’s true that you can find a way to tap into a free source of natural gas so easily, or if the story is just wishful thinking. Since Casper Planet identifies as a parody account, it’s unlikely. That being said, the post does pose some interesting questions…

The Rancher Allegedly Hooked his Home up to the Hole on his Own


According to Casper Planet, the rancher must’ve been quite handy to pull this hack off, since he allegedly ran 300 feet of pipe from the prairie dog hole to his existing propane system on his own. 

“Officials say the setup is surprisingly elaborate and appears to have supplied enough gas to heat the home, run the water heater and operate a kitchen stove,” the post continued. “The rancher has reportedly been asked to disconnect the system while officials determine where the gas is coming from.”
 
While the homeowner is said to be cooperating, Casper Planet reports that he doesn’t know what the fuss is all about: “Prairie dogs haven’t sent me a bill yet,” he allegedly said.

Can the Story be Real

Commenters were quick to share their thoughts on the viral post. “They aren’t wondering where it’s from, they’re trying to find a way to bill him for it,” one person wrote. 

Meanwhile, others say something doesn’t quite sound right.

“So just piped natural gas coming out of a prairie dog hole. No engineering. No extra digging. No caps,” one person wrote. “I mean. I’m not in any way familiar with how natural gas is extracted from the ground, but I don’t think you just put a pipe in the ground and hope it goes into the pipe. Those are some pretty tall prairie dog mounds too. Must be some big dogs.”
 
According to the Shale Directories blog, this story sounds like it may fall under the “too good to be true” category. That’s because you can’t just run a natural gas source to an existing propane system like the post says. Instead, you’ll need to add a conversion kit, which the website says requires a professional to ensure “safety and proper functioning.”
 
Of course, that’s to say nothing of whether or not you can divert natural gas to your home simply using a length of pipe. 

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