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By spencer miller. The black footed ferret. C lassification. S cientific name: kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mamalia Order: Carnivora Family: M ustelidae Genus: Mustela Species: Mustela Nigripes. Physical characteristics.
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By spencer miller The black footed ferret
Classification Scientific name: kingdom:Animalia Phylum:Chordata Class:Mamalia Order: Carnivora Family: Mustelidae Genus:Mustela Species: MustelaNigripes
Physical characteristics 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
Distribution 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. Habitat
Conservation status 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.
Parental care 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. Longevity and mortality
Seasonal patterns 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.
predators 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. human relationship Dead prairie dogs
Fun facts )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.