Spatial Optimization of Prairie Dog Colonies for Black-Footed Ferret Recovery

Carrying Capacity of Age-Specific Habitat Zones within Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Colonies: A Baseline Preceding Black-Footed Ferret Reintroduction

Enzootic plague reduces black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) survival in Montana.

Black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) require extensive prairie dog colonies (Cynomys spp.) to provide habitat and prey. Epizootic plague kills both prairie dogs and ferrets and is a major factor limiting recovery of the highly endangered ferret. In addition to epizootics, we hypothesized that enzootic plague, that is, presence of disease-causing Yersinia pestis without any noticeable prairie...

Optimizing habitat location for black-tailed prairie dogs in southwestern South Dakota

A spatial optimization model was formulated and used to maximize black-tailed prairie dog populations in the Badlands National Park and the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in South Dakota. The choice variables involved the strategic placement of limited additional protected habitat. Population dynamics were captured in formulations that reflected exponential population growth combined with the r...

Attributes of Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Colonies in Northcentral Montana

We examined several characteristics of black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies in Phillips County, Montana, including slope, aspect, soils, land tenure, and distance from roads using a geographic information system (GIs). Colonies exhibited significantly smaller slopes, but not significantly different aspects than did randomly located polygons. In addition, colonies were more p...

Plague in a black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes).

Diagnosis of sylvatic plague in a captive black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) was based on gross and microscopic lesions, fluorescent antibody tests, culture of Yersinia pestis, and immunohistochemistry. Gross lesions consisted of acute hemorrhage and necrosis associated with cervical and mesenteric lymph nodes, subcutaneous hemorrhages, and pulmonary edema. Acute edema, hemorrhage, and necr...