For those of you that know Dr. Hartman, you may know that she has a passion for ferrets. She has owned 7 of them through her lifetime, and loves seeing them here at the clinic. Recently, Dr. Hartman was in Colorado visiting family and she was lucky enough to get to meet Louise, a black footed ferret in the recovery program out there. Black footed ferrets are part of the mustelid family just like our pet ferrets, but they are native to North America whereas our pet ferrets are domesticated descendants of the European polecat. Black footed ferrets were believed to be extinct in the late 1970s/early 1980s, until a dog named Shep killed one in Meeteetse, Wyoming in September 1981. This lead to a recovery effort where 18 ferrets were brought into captivity to help repopulate the species. Of these 18, 6 died, leaving 12 animals left to save to species. Fast forward 30 some years. The rescue program has breed over 8500 ferrets from about 300 black footed ferrets kept in captivity. The offspring have been released into the wild in 24 sites in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and in parts of Canada and Mexico. Success rates of released black footed ferrets range from 0-75%. Black footed […]
Providing the best possible veterinary care for your pet.
Heritage Animal Hospital is a full-service veterinarian clinic that provides examinations, diagnostic services, dental care, surgical services, medicine, grooming and boarding services in Maple Grove, Minnesota. We are dedicated to providing the highest level of pet care possible and facilitating an environment where client communication and education are at the forefront of our practice.
