Whoohoo! An encounter with one of North America’s most endangered animals.
I have been lucky enough to photograph these rare creatures a few times over the years, most recently last October. This past Sunday, this one staged an appearance and hung out for over two hours. It didn’t really “do” anything beyond just sit around and keep watch but given the rarity, it was a treat.
Once numerous, the small animals were harvested for the fur trade. That, coupled with a loss of habitat and disease, resulted in a declining population and it was eventually declared extinct in 1979. Two years later, a small population of the animal was discovered on a private ranch in Wyoming and a captive breeding program was launched.
Since then, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been gradually releasing the black-footed ferret in eight states in what was once its native region. It was introduced to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado in October 2015.
