The Meeteetse Museums will be hosting their annual celebration of the endangered black-footed ferret on Friday, September 28, from 2 – 4 p.m.
Guests speakers will include Kimberly Fraser of US Fish and Wildlife’s National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center, Dana Nelson of Wyoming Game and Fish, Lenox Baker of the Pitchfork Ranch, and Kris Hogg of the Lazy BV Ranch. A live ferret will also be in attendance, courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife.
Black footed ferret in Meeteetse
Admission to the event at the museum is free and there will be poster and ferret mask giveaways. This event coincides with a private release of ferrets later in the afternoon at a location not far from Meeteetse. That event is closed to the public.
History of the Conservation Effort
The effort to save the black-footed ferrets is one of the greatest environmental successes in history. Thought to be extinct, in 1981 a ferret was killed on the Hogg Ranch by Shep, a dog belonging to Meeteetse ranchers John and Lucille Hogg.
Especially, the buy cialis male organ severely affected due to excessive hand practice damages the nerves and tissues in the reproductive organs. The compact takes effect once enough states constituting 270 electoral votes required to win cheap viagra in canada the Presidential election) agree to participate. Impotency can happen because of numerous cialis on line variables and the majority of the men don’t know about it. Availability in many forms- Original version was online cialis manufactured in the single form of tablets, however, Ajanta Pharma decided to launch the product in which each pills will contain essential composition of certain ingredients. Fish and Wildlife biologists Denny Hammer and Steve Martin were dispatched to the area to investigate and soon located a colony of about 120 ferrets on the neighboring Pitchfork Ranch. This was the last colony of black-footed ferrets on Earth. Biologists from around the world converged on the site and, for years, studied this mysterious species. After the ferrets’ numbers began to crash a few years later due to sylvatic plague and canine distemper in the prairie dog population (the ferrets’ food source), the decision was made to capture the remaining 18 ferrets and undertake a captive breeding program.
While “touch and go” for years, the program finally resulted in the release of ferrets in various locations in the US, as well as Canada and Mexico. But due to the persistence of the plague, the ferrets could not return to the Meeteetse area.
Finally, on July 26, 2016, 35 years after the discovery of the ferrets, Wyoming Game and Fish released 35 of the animals on the Pitchfork and Lazy BV (Hogg) Ranches. A number of follow-up releases have occurred since then. The planned release on September 28 is the latest in the series. These releases are necessary due to the relatively short life span of the ferrets, due to natural causes and predation.
First ferret release at Pitchfork, July 26 2016
So please join the Meeteetse Museums on Friday, September 28, from 2 to 4 pm for interesting presentations and updates on the black-footed ferrets in Meeteetse. Also, see a live ferret up close and personal. For more information, contact the museum at 307-868-2423 or visit meeteetsemuseums.org.
