Ferrets Weasels and Badgers

Mustela Nivalis

Order: Carnivora

Family: Mustelidae

The Least Weasel is found throughout the northern parts of Europe,North America and Asia, except for Ireland and eastern Canada. it extends as far south as Africa. It has been introduced into New Zealand and Australia. The North American population was formerly classified as a separate species, Mustela rixosa, but it is now thought that the distinction cannot be maintained. They are generally found in farmlands, meadows, brushy areas and woodland edges.

* Ferreting - ferrets are used for rabbit hunting in some European countries (Illegal in United States) * Ferrets are used in many broad areas of research as animal models, including studies of cardiovascular disease, nutrition, respiratory diseases (such as SARS and human influenza), airway physiology, and gastrointestinal disease (such as peptic ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori). Ferrets share many anatomical, metabolic and physiologic features with humans which has promoted their use as an animal model. Ferrets are widely used in influenza research H5N1 virus (bird flu) to test vaccines.

* Ferret are used in fur farms in other countries to produce fur coats and other fur products. The fur is called "fitch fur" Ferrets have been used: * in the White House to eliminate a rat problem * as an electrician's assistant * to help pull conduit at Peterson Air Force Base * to pull telegraph wires in London through small pipes * for centuries for hunting rabbits and rodents * to lay power cables. * to clean the pipes at the National Accelerator Laboratory at Batavia * First Cloned ferrets - named Libby and LillyHave you ever seen the movie The Beast Master starring Marc Singer? He has some pretty cool ferrets. They become his very good friends and even save his life at one point. You may want to consider getting two ferrets. In the movie, the Beast Master sees a woman swimming nude, and he gets the ferrets to take her clothes so she is naked. If I had ferrets, I would totally do that.

=== === === === === === Black Footed Ferret's Endangerment from Loss of Habitat and Food Source Black-footed ferrets survival depends on prairie dogs for food and shelter. At one time they were thought to be instinct in the wild caused indirectly from loss of prairie grassland habitat and loss of their main found source - the prairie dog, which was subject to massive extermination by the government and ranchers in the early 1900's. Prairie dogs were exterminated, poisoned and killed by the millions. The prairie dog is considered nuisance and ranchers viewed them as potential problems for cattle or horses being injured by stepping into prairie dog holes or burrows. Which is a big lie - there has not been one documented case of cattle or horse being injured by stepping into a prairie dog burrow or hole. Prairie dogs are beneficial for the land and their activity helps aerate the grassland to grow.

=== === In the early 1900's when Americans moved out west, Prairie Dogs were considered pest and it was thought they would destroy land with their tunnels, so they were eradicated along with their habitat. Ranchers see the prairie dog as a competitor for the grass that cattle eat, so they have poisoned prairie dogs with harmful chemicals that sometimes killed other animals. Also, many prairie dog towns have been plowed over for crop fields or destroyed for human development where the black footed ferret lived. Diseases, like sylvatic plague have also reduced prairie dog populations. Scientists estimated we have lost as much as 98% of the prairie dog habitat that once existed.

The black-footed ferret's close association with prairie dogs was an important factor in its decline. Contributions to the near-extinction of Black Footed Ferrets during the 19th and 20th centuries include the loss of prairie grassland habitat, the reduction of prairie dog numbers (through both habitat loss and poisoning), and the effects of canine distemper and sylvatic plague. As human encroachment and other factors reduced the populations of prairie dogs, and the food source began to disappear, so did black footed ferrets. Several non-biological challenges also face ferret recovery. Antipathy for prairie dogs remains prevalent among some people, especially relevant groups such as ranchers and many employees of agriculture, wildlife, and public land management agencies (Miller et al. 1990c; Reading 1993; Reading et al. in review).

The U S government policies on saving our environment and preventing species from becoming extinct, like the Endangered Species Act is constantly being manipulated and changed for the betterment of Oil companies, the last being by President Bush, and is a very controversial issue, changes made for more expansion of oil drilling, on shore and off shore, So the rich and greedy can get richer and to destroy and pollute our environment The black-footed ferret was first officially recognized by the United States government as threatened in 1967. When the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was created in 1973, black footed ferrets where listed as endangered. It was not until 1978 that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service adopted a recovery plan for habitat protection and the ferret had declined to near extinction. The recovery plan has since been modified with emphasis on captive breeding and reintroduction

Black footed ferrets were once thought gone from the wild, when a couple of small populations were found in Wyoming. In1987 with only 18 black-footed ferrets left in the world, they were brought into captivity to start a successful breeding program and are now being bred at Louisville Zoo, Toronto Zoo, The Phoenix Zoo, Smithsonian's Conservation & Research Center, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center and an outdoor facility in New Mexico. Each year approximately 200 black-footed ferret kits from captivity are re-introduced into the wild in several areas of their former range, at 11 release sites in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and Mexico. Many agencies and organizations are involved in black-footed ferret recovery returning them to the wild.

You can volunteer and participate in any state or federal land management planning efforts that affect native prairies and the species that depend on the prairie ecosystem. Write your state and federal representatives to let them know that you feel the prairies are worth preserving. Go to the website Blackfootedferret.org and learn how you can help!

* Akron Zoo, Akron, OH (call to verify first) * Binder Park Zoo, Battle Creek, MI * Bramble Park Zoo, Watertown, SD * Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs, CO * Dakota Zoo, Bismarck, ND * Elmwood Park Zoo, Norristown, PA * Fort Worth Zoo, Fort Worth, TX (call to verify first) * Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, NE (call to verify first) * Hogle Zoo, Salt Lake City, UT * Hutchinson Zoo, Hutchinson, KS * Lake Superior Zoo, Duluth, MN * Lee Richardson Zoo, Garden City, KS * Louisville Zoological Gardens, Louisville, KY * National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C. * North Eastern Wisconsin Zoo, Green Bay, WI * Phoenix Zoo, Phoenix, AZ * San Antonio Zoological Gardens and Aquarium, San Antonio, TX * San Diego Wild Animal Park, Escondido, CA * Texas Zoo, Victoria, TX * Toronto Zoo, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada * Zoo Montana, Billings, MT
Black-footed ferrets are endangered due to habitat loss from agriculutral activities and development on the short-grass praries of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. They are also endangered because people poison and shoot prairie dogs which make up 90% of their diet and provide them with shelter in their burrows. Lastly, canine distemper and the introduced disease sylvatic plague are deadly to black-footed ferrets. Sylvatic plague also kills prarie dogs, further reducing their numbers.