The black-footed ferret is 1.5-2 feet (0.48-0.61 m) long with a 5-6 inch (13-15 cm) tail.
It has a long, slender body; short legs; and a black-tipped tail. It has creamy tan fur with black markings on its feet, face mask, and tail tip
The black-footed ferret is the only ferret native to North America. The European polecat and the steppe or Siberian polecat are its closest living relatives in the wild.
The black-footed ferret is found in short or middle grass prairies. It often makes its home in abandoned prairie dog burrows.
The black-footed ferret eats prairie dogs. It slithers down prairie dog tunnels and kills the prairie dog with a quick bite to the back of the neck.
If it can’t find prairie dogs, it eats other small mammals like mice, gophers, and ground squirrels. It may also eat birds, eggs, and small reptiles.
The black-footed ferret mates in March and April. The female has a litter of 3-5 young in a burrow in the ground 41 days after mating. Young ferrets are called kits.
The young are born blind and helpless and are covered with fine white fur. They develop markings when they are about three weeks old and open their eyes when they are about a month old.
The young come above ground when they are about 42 days old. The young stay with their mother until the fall.
The black-footed ferret has a lifespan of 3-4 years in the wild. In captivity, their lifespan is 5-7 years.
Except for during the breeding season, the black-footed ferret is a solitary animal. It is mostly nocturnal and spends most of its time underground.
The black-footed ferret is very vocal and hisses, chatters, and whimpers. It is also very playful and and young black-footed ferrets often wrestle with each other.
The black-footed Ferret is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is the most endangered mammal in North America. The destruction of prairie dog towns and loss of habitat has severely impacted the black-footed ferret population. Predation and disease have also impacted black-footed ferret populations.
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The black-footed ferret was once found throughout the eastern and southern Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains. It is currently found in Montana, South Dakota, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Chihuahua, Mexico.
The black-footed ferret was first identified in 1851. As prairie dog populations decreased in the 20th century, black-footed ferret populations also decreased. Biologists thought the black-footed ferret was extinct in 1976 when the last known colony in South Dakota disappeared. In 1981, a group of about 100 black-footed ferrets was found near Meeteetse, Wyoming. All but 18 of those black-footed ferrets died of distemper. The remaining ferrets were captured and bred in captivity, and since 1991 ferrets descended from that original group have been released in the wild in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming in an effort to reestablish the population in the wild.
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