Black-Footed Ferret Facts

This small creature is one of the most severely endangered on the Endangered Species List. Black-footed ferrets have been considered endangered for ages; they face a variety of threats and struggle to maintain their populations. In the 1960s, the black-footed ferret almost went entirely extinct. Thankfully, they’re beginning to increase their numbers, though they are still considered very much endangered.

Appearance

Black-footed ferrets are true to their names; they have tan bodies with black legs and feet and black markings on their faces and tails. These creatures have large paws and claws made for digging, since they burrow into the ground. To suit their carnivorous diet, black-footed ferrets also possess large heads and teeth. They stand about 6 inches tall when on all fours and can be between 18-24 inches long. They usually weigh around 3 pounds with males being slightly heavier than females.

Diet

As carnivores, black-footed ferrets mostly prey on prairie dogs; they account for 90 percent of the ferret’s diet. They’ll also eat other small rodents or birds. When there were huge prairie dog colonies on the Northern Great Plains, healthy black-footed ferret populations helped keep those colonies under control. Now, with habitat fragmentation, prairie dog populations, much like black-footed ferret populations, are not what they once were.

Threats

Habitat loss and disease are the biggest threats facing black-footed ferrets. As prairies were converted to cropland, black-footed ferrets lost their habitat. At the same time, settlers were also working on controlling prairie dog populations, often by poisoning them, which led to black-footed ferrets inadvertently ingesting the poison after consuming prairie dogs. Eventually, human-introduced diseases, such as the plague, began affecting black-footed ferrets as well. It is this disease that many believe led to the rapid decline of the black-footed ferret population. Conservationists believe a solution to disease in the black-footed ferret population could be vaccinating them, but this method hasn’t been widely implemented.

Lifestyle

Black-footed ferrets are generally solitary and nocturnal creatures, except when they breed and raise their young. When these animals are together, they’re very vocal and make a variety of noises to communicate with one another. When a litter of kits is being raised, a mother will leave them in separate burrows during the day and then teach them to hunt at night once they’re old enough to do so. Baby black-footed ferrets generally become independent about 6 months after their births.

Current status

While black-footed ferrets have certainly made a comeback, there are only 300 currently in the wild. We still need to work hard to sustain black-footed ferret populations. There are many breeding programs still in effect that work to boost ferret populations and introduce babies into the wild. If you want to help the black-footed ferret, raise awareness of the issue and donate to organizations helping them.