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Show Wednesday. November 8, 2006 B1 Fightii black-footed ferret By Jennifer Petty Express Writer Though experts agree that prairie dog populations have diminished quite significantly over the years, most people would probably say there are more than enough prairie dogs to go around. People are quite happy to see the invasive rodents diminish and have even gone to great lengths to help the process along, but for the black-footed ferret, the widespread destruction of prairie prai-rie dog habitat almost led to its extinction. Wildlife biologists thought the black-footed ferret was extinct in the mid 1970s, but a miracle happened in 1981 when a farm dog in Meeteetse, Wyo. brought home a ferret it had killed. It was taken to a taxidermist taxider-mist to be mounted, and upon seeing it, the amazed taxidermist taxider-mist contacted U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service authorities. What ensued was a search of the area that lead to the identifying iden-tifying of a small population of black-footed ferrets. Said one of the researchers who was in charge of tracking the first known live black-footed ferret, "I couldn't believe that just below the ground was a real live black-footed ferret! fer-ret! I must have checked the burrow for a signal every ten minutes. At dawn, I was out near the burrow when the ferret fer-ret popped up and I had my first look at my first 'I thought they were extinct' ferret. I was hooked after that and fell victim vic-tim to 'ferret fever.'" After the population survey of 1981, the endangered ferret was not out of the woods yet. In 1985, disaster struck again when an outbreak of canine distemper dis-temper killed nearly all of the ferret population. The remaining remain-ing 18 that could be found were taken into captivity and used to launch a black-footed ferret recovery program. The Coyote Basin of Utah and Colorado was one of the sites chosen for the reintroduc-tion reintroduc-tion process. The area was chosen cho-sen because of its large size and abundance of prairie dogs, the ferrets' primary food source. The ferret is now considered one of North America's most endangered mammals. Now, since 1999, the first year black-footed ferrets were reintroduced into the Basin, A ferret checks out Rachel Call before & Home Furnishing h C-- for Your Ufestyfosy' Basin Life 285 ferrets have been released into the wild. Bart Zwetzig, who works in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office in Vernal has been with the project proj-ect since before the first ferrets were released. Releasing ferrets into the wild when they have been bred, born, and raised in captivity is quite a challenge, said Zwetzig. There is a lot of learning that goes on in the wild as far as escaping from predators preda-tors and learning how to hunt. "We've gotten better every year as far as survival rates go," said Zwetzig. "Every year we find wild adults that weren't ever in captivity, meaning the ferrets are reproducing and expanding on their own." Zwetzig said that prairie dogs are unique and considered a "keystone species" which means their existence is beneficial benefi-cial to many other species. The black-footed ferret is only one of the species that are threatened or sensitive. It's estimated that prairie dog habitat has been diminished by about 98 percent due to the development of the west, and other species that have declined along with the black-footed ferret include the ferruginous hawk, burrowing owl, swift fox, and mountain plover. "Prairie dogs help to create and maintain a different habitat habi-tat type. Prairie dogs improve forage within the colony and create an edge between habitat types, increasing availability of food and cover," said Zwetzig. They also provide shelter for other species in the form of abandoned burrows, as well as a readily available source of food in themselves, he added. Basically, "the prairie dog manipulates the habitat and makes it appealing for other animals such as the ferruginous hawk, burrowing owl, badgers, kit foxes, and tiger salamanders, salaman-ders, to name a few," explained Zwetzig. "These animals rely on prairie dog colonies. Even bison and antelope chose prairie dog colonies to graze on because the vegetation is more digestible. The ferret is part of that complete com-plete diversity." Hopefully, the success of ferret fer-ret reintroduction program will only improve. The BLM group is working in conjunction with the Utah State University Uintah Basin Campus to research and catalog prairie dog and ferret populations. In 7w Photo by Jen Petty running into its new home. 7v xpressions for I M am ..-V;,':.'. 1 3 r&Lft'.i Matthew Stringer and Bart Zwetzig the past, the researcher at the University has only been a part-time part-time position. Now they are in the process of hiring a full time research professor to help with long-term ferret studies. Research on black-footed ferret reintroduction is trying try-ing to answer questions such as: Is hunting skill inherited or learned? Can captive raised animals be taught to avoid predators? Should they be? How important is early family experience to successful mating later in life? The goal of the ferret reintroduction rein-troduction program is to have 10 self-sustaining ferret populations popu-lations that are geographically separated by 2010 and take the animal off the Endangered Species List. Zwetzig said the reintroduction of ferrets in this area has special considerations. "Ferrets are considered an "experimentalnonessential" population which allows more freedom in management," he said. There are less governmental governmen-tal regulations than with other classes of endangered species, said Zwetzig, which makes it possible for the land to still be developed as it might be in oil or gas industry development. How to get involved or learn more Learn about black-footed ferrets and prairie ecosystems. ecosys-tems. The recovery program has a website at: www.black-footedferret.org www.black-footedferret.org Help out with ferret releases through the BLM Vernal District office. For more information call 781-4400. 781-4400. Older adults and youth can work or participate in internships or employment employ-ment through the Uintah Basin campus of Utah State or through the BLM. Field research help is always needed to survey prairie dog and ferret populations during dur-ing the summer. 1 I W if 3 f V : the a 1 : , . ... 7 C from the BLM patiently wait for a ferret If " S;fi.-j--.. -if iaf f '- Vat Cf" ' i. . I ri iirfindiirtirniTnmir ir -tovMMMJxetixjeLj , The black-footed ferret is making a Photo provided by Vernal BLM office Researchers tag a ferret with a microchip in preparation for release. v Photo by Jen Petty to venture out of it's cage Photo provided by Vernal BLM office comeback. Community Calendar November Utah Fine Arts League art display at Western Heritage Museum during the month of November. November 5-10 Revival services will be held at First Baptist Church, 2100 W. Highway 40, at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Nov. 5 and at 7 p.m. Nov. 6-10. The speaker is Pastor Mike McGuire. For more information, call 789-1347. 789-1347. November 8 The family support center of the Uintah Basin will be offering offer-ing Parent Education classes class-es every Wednesday in the Workforce Services Building, 1050 Market Drive, from 4:00 to 7:00. Free childcare is available. avail-able. Call 722-2401 to enroll for classes or arrange for childcare. Classes will also be offered in Roosevelt and Duchesne City. Call for more information. A class taught by Hazel Bentley on Research Helps on familysearch.org will be held at 7 p.m. Sign-up is recommended. recom-mended. Call 789-3618 to sign up. November 10 Community dance at the Golden Age Center, 155 South 100 West from 8 to 10 p.m. every Friday night. Kay's Band provides the music. November 11 Chamber of Commerce sponsored Turkey Days at Cobblerock Park. Call 789-1352 for more information. . November 13 Community Bible Study every Monday at 7 p.m. at 3630 South 1500 East. November 14 Charyl Siddoway will teach a class on "Finding Your Ancestors in Uintah County" at the Vernal Family History Center at 10 a.m. Pam Merrell will teach "Photos in Personal Ancestral File" at 3 and 5 p.m. at the Family History Center. Signup Sign-up is recommended. November 15 "Downloading a GEDCOM" will be taught at the Family History Center by Hazel Bentley at 7 p.m. Sign-up rec ommended. November 16 Charyl Siddoway will teach a class at the Family History Center on Finding Your Ancestors in Uintah County at 5:15 p.m. Bedtime Story Hour at Duchesne Co". Library Children's Room at 6 p.m Contact DDI Vantage for more information, 722-3008. November 17 Community dance at the Golden Age Center, 155 South 100 West from 8 to 10 p.m. every Friday night. Kay's Band provides the music. November 18 vernal JiiKs will sponsor the Elks Hoop Shoot at Uintah High School, ages 8-13. Sign ups will be at 11 a.m., the shoot will be at 12 noon. For more information, contact Travis Reynolds, 781-1482. November 21 "Advances Focus Filter in Personal Ancestral File" will be taught at the Vernal History Center by Karen Coombs at 5:15 p.m. Sign-up is recommended. November 22, 24-27 Trees for Charity will be held at Western Park. Call 789-1352 for more information. November 24 Community dance at the Golden Age Center, 155 South 100 West from 8 to 10 p.m every Friday night Kay's Band provides the music. To place items of public interest inter-est in the Community Calendar, call 789-3511 or email them to editorvernal.com. |