Physical Appearance

Slender, wiry animals with black facemask, black feet, and black-tipped tail, short legs with large front paws and claws for digging; acute hearing, sight, and strong sense of smell.

They are nocturnal and leave their burrows at night to hunt. 

Size

18 to 24 inches long, males are slightly larger than females.

Native Habitat

Once ranged across the North American Great Plains; reintroduced to parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, and Arizona.

Lifespan

3-4 years in the wild; around 4 years in human care.

Communication

Vocal animals; use loud chatter as an alarm call, hiss when agitated, females whimper to guide young, and males "chortle" to females during breeding.

Diet

Prairie dogs make up more than 90 percent of the black-footed ferret's diet. Black-footed ferrets are also known to eat ground squirrels, small rodents, rabbits and birds. 

Prairie dogs are herbivorous burrowing ground squirrels native to the grasslands of North America. There are five recognized species of prairie dog: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs.

Threats

Threats to black-footed ferrets include loss of habitat, loss of prairie dogs, plague, and human intolerance.

Social Structure

Solitary, except during breeding season.

IUCN Status

Endangered Species Act: Endangered

CITES: Appendix I

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q.The Black-footed ferret, once thought to be extinct, is native to which country?

(a) Australia

(b) Canada

(c) United States

(d) Russia

Answer: c

Explanation:

The black-footed ferret is the only ferret native to the Americas. For millennia, black-footed ferrets inhabited a vast swath of North America that spread from Saskatchewan in Canada down into the Mexican state of Chihuahua. They are specialized predators that live only in prairie dog colonies.