The only ferret native to the U.S. was thought to be extinct, until the black-footed ferret had made another appearance. The ferret is a descendant of the weasel family, but is very different from the rest of its species. A predator with a length of only about 2 feet, and black eyes that give it the characteristics of a robber. It tends to find its home in the villages of another animal, in which they eat. In the Great Plains, the ferret decreased greatly in population from lack of food, the past generations have already taken action, and the today’s generation is continuing more efforts to save the ferrets.
The prairie dog population had been dwindling in an inconstant pattern because of disease, this started to take a toll on the lives of
the ferrets. Ferrets live in the colonies of prairies dogs, and consequently they also eat them. As predator and prey, if the prey dies off then the predator is going to start to also go down, so exactly this happened. If a whole colony was wiped out by the plague then the ferrets also were wiped out. The reliance on one food source that saw many inconstant changes in population almost caused the ferret population to be completely extinct. According to the article, “The disease now routinely cycles through prairie dog colonies across the ferrets’ 12-state historical range.” This shows that the 12 states that the ferrets live in have sudden outbreaks of plague, which causes population decrease for both the prairie dogs and the ferrets. The ferrets and the prairie live in a close-knit community, where if the prairie dogs die the ferrets are also in danger for extinction. Past efforts have been made to try to save the black-footed ferret species. While these may have worked for short periods of time, they weren’t the ideal way to save the ferrets from extinction. The article states, “Beginning in the 1990s, efforts to breed black-footed ferrets at a facility near Fort Collins, Colorado, and release them into the wild have been successful in the sense that the black-footed ferret is no longer teetering on the brink.” The efforts that were made in 90’s brought the ferrets from near extinction to just endangered. This of course couldn’t completely solve the problem, but did leave a short-term solution for the species. Sadly, the plague still had been rampaging on the prairie dog population, so it still effected the colonies where the ferrets were living.
At one time, the lynx lived all the way along the Continental Divide clear up into Canada. Now, after being gone from Colorado for 25 years, the animal has been reintroduced into the lower tip of the lynx's historic habitat, the San Juan Mountains (Rogers). So far, out of 33 lynx that are being tracked, all of them are roaming in 276 square kilometers of the southwestern portion of Colorado that runs from the New Mexico border up to the I-70 corridor and from Monarch Pass over to Taylor Mesa (Shenk). In an attempt to find out how the animals, which look like bobcats with black tufts on their ears and huge paws, act in nature, scientists are tracking them with radio collars and airplanes (Lloyd).
In his realistic wartime novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque utilizes animal and nature imagery in order to reflect the destructiveness of war. Initially, as the gang trundles towards the front line in the truck and the artillery shells begin to whistle, "...there is suddenly in our veins...a tense waiting...a strange sharpening of senses. The body with one bound is in full readiness," (54). As this change in their blood occurs, the men become more animalistic, more aware and alert, losing their humanity to primal instinct in order to survive. With shocking ease, Paul and his veteran friends accept this change and manage to barely flinch as the bombing begins, demonstrating their war-hardened attitude. However, they
The sabertooth cat, also known by its scientific name Smilodon Fatalis, is considered a true form fossil. A fossil is considered a true form fossil when scientists recover fossils of the actual animal or animal part. These bones were oftentimes subjected to physical processes while still on the surface. These processes include heat, cold, wind and rain.
Estimates are that at the turn of the twentieth century, over two million wild horses roamed free in the western United States. However, having no protection from their primary predator, man, by the 1970’s their numbers had dwindled to less than thirty thousand. In 1971, after a massive public uproar, Congress by a unanimous vote enacted the “Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act” (Act) that characterizes wild horses and burros as national treasures and provides for their protection. “Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people; and that these horses and burros are fast disappearing from the American scene. It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.”
The causes of rising conservation include overhunting, recognizing its importance. These newfound awareness results in new policies that preserve everyone equally. When people started to see the decline of wildlife animals including bison and many colorful birds it caused a rise in conservation. A cause of the extermination of bison is “From the Great Slave Lake to the Rio Grande, the home of the buffalo was everywhere overrun by the man with a gun; and, as had ever been the case, the wild creatures were gradually swept away, the largest and most conspicuous forms being the first to go. ”(Doc.2)
However, the issues that the southern Plains tribes faced did not end there: intensive pastoralism brought on negative environmental impacts that led to the decline of the bison population.
1.A lot of people are misinformed, have misconceptions, or might not have any idea at all about what these animals are about. The ferret family, which includes weasels, mink, polecats, martins, skunks, badgers, otters, wolverines, and the endangered black-footed ferret. Early Greek literature suggests that unlike its cousins, the ferret has been domesticated for approximately two to three thousand years.
Should the environmental leaders of Florida protect the Florida panther? The people of Florida think so, and that is why they named it their state animal. This panther is one of about thirty subspecies of Felis concolor. The subspecies, coryi is one of the rarest and most endangered animals in the world. Panthers, also called pumas, cougars, screamers, and mountain lions, once ranged from the southern end of South America into Canada. In appearance the Florida panther is similar to other panthers, however this rare subspecies has several distinct characteristics such as, white flecks on the shoulders, a cowlick on the back (a cowlick is a tuft of hair that cannot easily be flattened) and a crook in the tail. This is formed by the last three bones in the tail, that is bent forming the stump on the end. Panthers have an average length of six to nine feet from the nose to the tip of tail, stand up to twenty-eight inches in height, and weigh from fifty to one hundred-thirty pounds. These panthers are solitary and territorial animals and seldomly live together except for mating season. Following an approximate 90 day gestation period the females are more sedentary once the usual two to three kittens are born, but more than one kitten rarely survives and that is another reason for the low panther count.
Weeks, P., & Packard, J. (2009). Feral hogs: Invasive species or nature. Human Organization, 68(3), 280-292. Retrieved from http://wk4ky4tk9h.scholar.serialssolutions.com.library.esc.edu/?sid=google&auinit=P&aulast=Weeks&atitle=Feral Hogs: Invasive Species or Nature's Bounty?&title=Human organization&volume=68&issue=3&date=2009&spage=280&issn=0018-7259
Noceker, Robert J. ìCongressional Research Service Report for Congress Reintroduction of Wolves.î August 1, 1997. Visited: October 17, 1999.
In the passage, “Prairie Dogs: A Threatened Species or Public Nuisance?” Roberta Barbalace insists, “Their expansion encroaches upon the grazing land, golf courses, city parks and even airport runways.” This reveals how their population are thriving, and how it’s difficult to keep them under control. As their population extends, we will encounter more conflicts with prairie dogs. Additionally, Seth Magle discovered that “prairie dogs lived in communities on average five times more crowded than rural colonies”. This furthering the fact that as prairie dogs thrive, there will be many more problems to face. Prairie dogs population will keep exploding, causing prairie dogs to get in our
Coyotes and bears are a common sight in the woods. These animals, along with others, are predators that help to control deer population but also decrease the amount of land allowed to the deer. In Western NC, deer rates have fallen and bag limits have been reduced. In Pennsylvania, biologists have conducted a lengthy study to determine fawn mortality and predation. Predators killed 46% of fawns, (Hart). A study about coyotes in Ohio found that even though they kill numerous fawns, the population of deer continues to grow, (Hart). It would be critical to maintain...
This triggered the largest population decline in all recorded history. Fifty percent of the Native American population had died of disease within twenty years. Soon after, Native Americans began to question their religion and doubted the ability of the shaman to heal. This was the first step towards the destruction of Native cultures. The Native Americans had never experienced anything like these deadly diseases before, and they came to believe that Europeans had the power to kill or give life.
The Arctic Fox is a carnivore that lives away from the coast. They usually eat omnivores. The Arctic Fox relies on smaller animals to survive. They usually hunt for marine life, like fish or sea birds..etc. There are several hundred thousand in its population. They have the scientific name “Vulpes Lagopus”. The Arctic Fox weighs about 3 to 20 pounds and are around 18 to 27 inches long. They are also about 11 inches in height.
White-tailed deer, also known as the whitetail, is native to the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. What are the things called antlers and what are they made of? Deer antlers are made of bone. They grow from pedicles, bony bumps found on the heads of all deer, and they drop off after the mating season ends.