Little known fact for most of Greater Yellowstone's human denizens: the black-footed ferret, the most endangered land mammal in America, was thought extinct, until a rancher's dog near Meeteetse, Wyoming (inside the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem) brought a dead one back to the ranch house which led to the discovery that ferrets still were barely hanging on. It was a profound demonstration of how important habitat on private property is to conservation. Ferrets, which represent no threat to people or livestock, can only persist if there are thriving prairie dogs available for them to eat.
Little known fact for most of Greater Yellowstone's human denizens: the black-footed ferret, the most endangered land mammal in America, was thought extinct, until a rancher's dog near Meeteetse, Wyoming (inside the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem) brought a dead one back to the ranch house which led to the discovery that ferrets still were barely hanging on. It was a profound demonstration of how important habitat on private property is to conservation. Ferrets, which represent no threat to people or livestock, can only persist if there are thriving prairie dogs available for them to eat.