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The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), also known as the American polecat [4] or prairie dog hunter, [5] is a species of mustelid native to central North America. The black-footed ferret is roughly the size of a mink and is similar in appearance to the European polecat and the Asian steppe polecat. It is largely nocturnal and solitary ...
This subspecies evolved into modern black-footed ferrets. [10] Most members eat rodents. 90% of the black-footed ferret's diet is made up of prairie dogs, followed by other small rodents and lagomorphs. The European polecat primarily feeds on mouse-like rodents, followed by amphibians and birds.
In the United States, the term polecat is sometimes applied to the black-footed ferret, a native member of the Mustelinae. In Southern United States dialect, the term polecat is sometimes used as a colloquial nickname for the skunk, which is part of the family Mephitidae. [2]
The animal was a black-footed ferret, once abundant in the American West with a range that stretched into Canada and Mexico, but by the 1980s the species was believed to have been wiped out ...
The story of the black-footed ferrets is a wild one. Their numbers declined precipitously in the twentieth century due to the declining population of prairie dogs (their main source of food) as ...
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The European polecat's closest relatives are the steppe polecat and black-footed ferret, with which it is thought to have shared Mustela stromeri as a common ancestor. The European polecat is, however, not as maximally adapted in the direction of carnivory as the steppe polecat, being less specialised in skull structure and dentition.
Once thought to be extinct, the cloning is a first for a US endangered species, ushering a new era for North America's only ferret species. The black-footed ferret was believed extinct until 18 ...