July 18 - Black Footed Ferret

BlackFootedFerret - (Mustela nigripes) a small carnivorous North American mammal of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, mink, polecats, martens otters and badgers. They are nocturnal hunters that are almost entirely dependent on a plentiful supply of prairie dogs to prey on, and shelter in a prairie dog burrow during the day. A single family of four Black-footed Ferrets eats about 250 prairie dogs each year, and cannot survive without access to large colonies of them.

*Endangered*

The Black-footed Ferret is the most endangered mammal in North America, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). They became extinct in the wild in Canada in 1937, and were classified as endangered in the U.S. in 1967. The last known wild population was taken into captivity in the mid-1980's, a few years after its accidental discovery in Wyoming.