By spencer miller
Classification
Scientific
name:
kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mamalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Genus: Mustela
Species: Mustela
Nigripes
The black footed ferrets name describes its black feet, it has a long tan
colored body around 20 to 24 inches long, the have black fur on there
face that almost looks like a mask, the weigh about 1 ½ to 2 ½ pounds,
the male black footed ferrets generally weigh more than the females
which is the only difference they have, it has short legs, long laws on
the front feet, and large ears
The black footed
ferret lives in all of
these places but
most live in Arizona
The black footed ferret basically lives on a
desert prairie and live in burrows.
The ICUN red list lists the black footed ferret as a threatened
species, at one time there were only 18 black footed ferrets
left in the world but captive breeding has made population
increase to around 1000 in the wild and 2000 in captivity and
growing.
Reproduction
Almost nothing is
known about the
black footed ferrets
breeding habits but
they are thought to
breed around April
or May. A black
footed ferret
becomes
reproductive at one
year of age. They
will have a litter of
around 2 to 5 kits.
The black footed ferrets stay with there
mother for about 4 months tn leave to live
by themselves. Only the mother cares for
the kits.
The black footed ferret lives for about 3 to 5 years in
the wild and around 8 years in captivity. Is no
difference in life length between males and females.
The black footed ferret does not hibernate or migrate
but they do spend most of the time in there burrows
in the winter, but really don’t have any seasonal
patterns.
diet
90% of the
black footed
ferrets diet is
prairie dogs but
it will also eat
mice, gophers,
ground,
squirrels, birds,
eggs, and
small reptiles.
The predators of the black footed ferret are:
) Foxes
) Great Horned Owls
) Golden Eagles
) Prairie Falcons
) Badgers
) And Bobcats
The black footed ferrets aren’t pets. People don’t really use them for
anything. The reason black footed ferrets almost went extinct is
because when pioneers settled here prairie dog towns were wiped out
to do farming and ferrets are dependent on prairie dogs for food, but
the prairie dogs were eating crops so the pioneers started a prairie dog
poisoning campaign and black footed ferrets couldn’t find food.
Dead prairie dogs
)Baby black footed ferrets are called kits
)Black footed ferrets sometimes kill predator birds in
mid air that pick them up
)At one time they were thought to be extinct
)There has been black footed ferret litters of up to 10
kits
)Black footed ferrets eat over 100 prairie dogs a year
)Black footed ferrets can run up to 7 miles an hour
Works cited
Animals.NationalGeographic.com. National Geographic, n.d.
Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
Arkive.org. Arkive, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
Azgfd.gov. Arizona Game and Fish Department, n.d. Web. 9 Apr.
2013.
BlackFootedFerret.org. Recovery Program, n.d. Web. 28 Feb.
2013.
Defenders.org. Fact Sheet, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.
Nhptv.com. Nature Works, n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2013.