Back From The Brink. The Return Of The Black Footed Ferret

[Devilwin]

How many times has an animal been declared "extinct" twice , and then returned from the nether world? Very few indeed, but the plains of North America have such a Lazarus.
It's a first cousin to the mink and weasel, the black footed ferret. The black footed ferret is a highly specialized hunter, dependent on prairie dogs not only for food, but for dwelling space. They take over burrows tunneled by prairie dogs, and live in the midst of their prey.
The ferret once lived in dog towns from Canada to Mexico, but as humans declared war on prairie dogs, the ferret began to disappear as well.
The numbers declined to the point where the ferret was declared extinct in the wild in 1959. Meanwhile the prairie dog populations slowly recovered, but no ferrets were found.
Then, a small colony was located in 1964, but efforts to re-establish captive born ferrets in the wild failed, so again, it was declared gone from the wild.
Fast forward to the mid 80's. A Wyoming lady's farm dog turned up with an animal it had killed she had never seen before. She called wildlife officials, who declared the animal a black footed ferret. An investigation turned up a colony of around 18 animals, which were captured and placed into a captive breeding program.
This population did much better, and locations were chosen to release some back into the wild. 17 locations received the ferrets, but only four of them succeeded with self sustaining populations.
These colonies are located in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Arizona. More locations will go online this year, with new sites in Canada, Mexico, and Colorado set to receive new wild born ferrets.
It has been noticed that the ferrets have changed their diets somewhat, whereas prairie dogs were the main prey, and made up over 90% of the ferret's diet, the ferrets in the wild now take a higher percentage of birds, mice, and ground squirrels to the point where they are not so dependent on prairie dogs, even though prairie dogs still make up over 60% of the diet.
This is a good sign, because prairie dog populations are fragmented, and no longer cover the vast expanses they once did. (A prairie dog town could be over 50 miles across back in the 1850's)
The black footed ferret populations in the four wild colonies number around 400 animals, with another 300 in the captive breeding programs.

Scientific name: Mustela nigripes
Size: 22" long, up to two pounds
Color: Tan, with black feet, tail tip, and mask
http://www.arkive.org/black-footed-f...tela-nigripes/

[tteettimes]

How many times has an animal been declared "extinct" twice , and then returned from the nether world? Very few indeed, but the plains of North America have such a Lazarus.
It's a first cousin to the mink and weasel, the black footed ferret. The black footed ferret is a highly specialized hunter, dependent on prairie dogs not only for food, but for dwelling space. They take over burrows tunneled by prairie dogs, and live in the midst of their prey.
The ferret once lived in dog towns from Canada to Mexico, but as humans declared war on prairie dogs, the ferret began to disappear as well.
The numbers declined to the point where the ferret was declared extinct in the wild in 1959. Meanwhile the prairie dog populations slowly recovered, but no ferrets were found.
Then, a small colony was located in 1964, but efforts to re-establish captive born ferrets in the wild failed, so again, it was declared gone from the wild.
Fast forward to the mid 80's. A Wyoming lady's farm dog turned up with an animal it had killed she had never seen before. She called wildlife officials, who declared the animal a black footed ferret. An investigation turned up a colony of around 18 animals, which were captured and placed into a captive breeding program.
This population did much better, and locations were chosen to release some back into the wild. 17 locations received the ferrets, but only four of them succeeded with self sustaining populations.
These colonies are located in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Arizona. More locations will go online this year, with new sites in Canada, Mexico, and Colorado set to receive new wild born ferrets.
It has been noticed that the ferrets have changed their diets somewhat, whereas prairie dogs were the main prey, and made up over 90% of the ferret's diet, the ferrets in the wild now take a higher percentage of birds, mice, and ground squirrels to the point where they are not so dependent on prairie dogs, even though prairie dogs still make up over 60% of the diet.
This is a good sign, because prairie dog populations are fragmented, and no longer cover the vast expanses they once did. (A prairie dog town could be over 50 miles across back in the 1850's)
The black footed ferret populations in the four wild colonies number around 400 animals, with another 300 in the captive breeding programs.

Scientific name: Mustela nigripes
Size: 22" long, up to two pounds
Color: Tan, with black feet, tail tip, and mask
http://www.arkive.org/black-footed-f...tela-nigripes/

Geeze....you’re such the outdoorsman...I mean FOR REAL...and not just being outdoors either...I mean you are really educated about these animals...not that it matters much coming from me but it’s really really impressive

Was wondering...do you know how to keep an elephant from stampeding??

[Devilwin]

Thanks, glad you liked the post.
On your stampeding elephant. You can stop an elephant from charging by taking away its credit card maybe?