Black-footed ferret - Species at Risk - Lewis and Clark

"[T]his plane extends with the same bredth from the creek below to the distance of near three miles ablove parrallel with the river, and it is intirely occupyed by the burrows of the barking squiril heretofore described. . . . a great number of wolves of the small kind, [hawks] and some pole-cats were to be seen. I presume that those anamals feed on this squirril." --Meriwether Lewis

As the group headed to the Upper Missouri River, Lewis took a day to stretch his legs and explore the new landscape. In this country of deep ravines and open plains, he noticed acres of prairie dogs poking out of their burrows. Predators waited for their chance at a prairie-dog meal, most hiding in the grass or circling overhead, others lurking underground.

Spending much of the day out of sight below the soil surface, the black-footed ferret wasn't described until the naturalist John James Audubon wrote about it in 1851 (though Lewis recorded seeing "pole cats," which may have been a reference to the ferrets).

No one else commented on the ferrets for another 26 years. But the animal's elusive nature didn't keep it out of trouble. The lithe creature with a black bandit mask was destined to become one of North America's most endangered mammals.

The survival of the black-footed ferret depends on our willingness to take the following steps:

Ensure that state and federal land-planning processes set aside adequate black-footed ferret recovery areas.

Protect prairie-dog populations. This includes limiting unregulated sport shooting, stopping government-sponsored prairie-dog poisoning, and integrating prairie dogs into state wildlife-management plans.

Establish prairie-dog reserves, including one on Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, a black-footed ferret reintroduction site.