Black-footed+Ferret

media type="custom" key="3729557" Black-Footed Ferret (//Mustel Nigripes//)

Mess with the ferret... you get the fangs


 * Diet: ** The Black Footed Ferret family of four can eat up to an average of 763 prairie dogs per year. Prairie dogs are the main source of food but the ferret will also eat grasses and other small animals.


 * Natural Habitat: ** The Black Footed Ferret lives in the open plains from Texas to Canada. Through Nebraska, Oklahoma, the Dakotas, and Kansas.


 * Description: ** The Black Footed Ferret can grow to 20 to 24 inches and weigh up to 2 1/2 pounds. There are black marking on its feet and the tip of it's tail. The markings on the feet are where they get their name from. They eat prairie dogs most often. they can reproduce 3 to 4 young per litter.


 * Interesting facts: ** The Black Footed Ferret is the rarest mammal in North America. Some of the reasons they are endangered are because of increase in predators and trapping for furs. Predators such as wolves and coyotes. They were placed on the endangered species list in 1981 when they killed off most of the prairie dogs and there where only 18 left.


 * Endangered species act: ** Calls for the conservation for species that are threatened or endangered throughout all or some of their range, and the conservation of the ecosystems on which they depend.


 * Habitat:** It prefers the wide open plains and anywhere they can find food. Short grass prairies.

One way people are saving this species are by setting aside land to help keep the population up so they do not have to breed them captive again.

Web Sites dedicated to saving the Black-Footed Ferret: []
 * Population: ** 700

[]