lOS 



Mammals — Our Living Resources 



■.»*^-e-^> 





Prairie dog control campaigns, 

 like this one in Arizona, circa 

 1913. contributed to the decline of 

 the hlack-footed ferret. 



For further infurniation: 



Dean E. Biggins 



National Biological Service 



Midcontinent Ecological Science 



Center 



4.'il2 McMarry Ave. 



Fort Colhns. CO S(),«i2.S 



small- to medium-sized veilebrates on praiiie 

 dog complexes, as well as the degree of depen- 

 dence on piairie dogs of selected associated 

 species; examine the effect of complex size, as 

 well as constituent colony sizes, numbers, and 

 juxtaposition on diversity and abundance of 

 associated species; investigate the recent histo- 

 ry of plague on selected complexes to determine 

 the relation between complex size (and mor- 

 phology) and resistance to decimation by 

 plague; and develop methods for reestablishing 

 prairie dog colonies and reconstructing com- 

 plexes in suitable areas where prairie dogs have 

 been extirpated. 



The black-footed ferret cannot be reestab- 

 lished on the grasslands of North America in 

 viable self-sustaining populations without large 

 complexes of prairie dog colonies. The impor- 

 tance of this system to other species is not com- 

 pletely understood, but large declines in some 

 of its species should serve as a warning. The 

 case of the black-footed ferret provides ample 

 evidence that timely preventive action would be 

 preferable to the inefficient "salvage" opera- 

 tions. Furthermore, there is considerable risk of 

 ineversible damage (e.g., genetic impoverish- 

 ment) with such rescue efforts. 



References 



Biggins. D.E.. B.J. Miller. L. Hanehury. R, Oakleaf. A. 

 Farmer. R. Crete, and A. Dood. 199.^. A technique for 

 evaluating black-footed ferret habitat. Pages 73-88 in J.L. 

 Oldemeyer. D.E. Biggins. B.J. Miller, and R. Crete, eds. 

 Management of prairie dog complexes for the reintro- 

 duction of the black-footed ferret. U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service Biological Rep. 13. 



Biggins. D.E.. M.H. Schroeder. S.C. Forrest, and L. 

 Richardson. I98.'i. Movements and habitat relationships 

 of radio-tagged black-footed ferrets. Pages 11.1-11.17 in 

 S.H. Anderson and D.B. Inkley. eds. Proceedings of the 

 Black-footed Ferret Workshop. Wyoming Game and Fish 



Department. Cheyenne. 



Caipenter. J.W., and C.N. HiUman. 1978. Husbandry, repro- 

 duction, and veterinary care of captive ferrets. 

 Proceedings of the American Association of Zoo 

 Vetennarians Workshop. Knoxville. TN. 1979:36-47. 



Clarke. D.C. 1988. Prairie dog control — a regulatory view- 

 point. Pages 1 19-12(1 in D.W. Uresk and G. Schenbeck. 

 eds. Eighth Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control 

 Workshop Proceedings. U.S. Forest Service Gen. Tech. 

 Rep. RM-1.'S4. 



FoiTest. S.C. D.E. Biggins. L. Richardson, T.W. Clark. T.M. 

 Campbell III. K.A. Fagerstone. and E.T. Thome. 1988. 

 Population attributes for the black-footed ferret {Muswla 

 /(;,i;M/it'.s) at Meeteetse, Wyoming, 1981-1985. Journal of 

 Mammalogy 69(2):261-273. 



Hillman. C.N.. and R.L, Linder. 1973. The black-footed fer- 

 ret. Pages 10-20 in R.L. Linder and C.N. Hillman. eds. 

 Proceedings of the Black-footed Ferret and Prairie Dog 

 Workshop. South Dakota State University Publications. 

 Brookings. 



Lnider. R.L.. R.B. Dahlgren, and C.N. Hillman. 1972. 

 Black-footed ferret-prairie dog interrelationships. Pages 

 22-37 in Proceedings of the Symposium on Rare and 

 Endangered Wildlife of the Southwestern U.S. New 

 Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Santa Fe. 



Marsh. R.E. 1984. Ground squirrels, prairie dogs and mar- 

 mots as pests on rangeland. Pages 195-208 in 

 Proceedings of the Conference for Organization and 

 Practice of Vertebrate Pest Control. ICl Plant Protection 

 Division. Femherst, England. 



O'Brien. S.J.. J.S. Martenson. M.^. Eichelberger. E.T. 

 Thome, and F. Wright. 1989. Biochemical genetic vari- 

 ation and molecular systematics of the black-footed fer- 

 ret, Musti'la nigripes. Pages 21-33 in Conservation biol- 

 ogy and the black-footed ferret. Yale University Press, 

 New Haven. CT. 



Sharps. J. 1988. Politics, prairie dogs, and the sportsman. 

 Pages 117-118 in D.W. Uresk and G. Schenbeck. eds. 

 Eighth Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop 

 Proceedings. U.S. Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. RM- 

 154. 



Williams, E.S.. E.T. Thome. M.J.G. Appel. and D.W. 

 Belitsky. 1988. Canine distemper in black-footed ferrets 

 {Musteki nigripes) from Wyoming. Joumal of Wildlife 

 Diseases 24:385-398. 



American 

 Badgers in 

 Illinois 



by 



Barbara Ver Steeg 



Illinois Natural History 



Survey 



Richard E. Warner 

 University of Illinois 



The American badger {Ta.xidca ki.xiis) is a 

 medium-sized carnivore found in treeless 

 areas across North America, such as the tall- 

 grass prairie (Lindzey 1982). Badgers rely pri- 

 marily on small burrowing mammals as a prey 

 source; availability of badger prey may be 

 affected by changes in land-use practices that 

 alter prey habitat. In the midwestem United 

 States most native prairie was plowed for agri- 

 cultural use beginning in the mid-1800's 

 (Burger 1978). In the past 100 years. Midwest 

 agriculture has shifted from a diverse system of 

 small farms with row crops, small grains, hay, 

 and livestock pasture to larger agricultural oper- 

 ations employing a mechanized and chemical 

 approach to cropping. The result is a more uni- 

 form agricultural landscape dominated by two 

 primary row crops, com and soybeans. The 

 effects of such land-use alterations on badgers 



arc unknown. In addition, other human activi- 

 ties such as hunting and trapping have no doubt 

 had an impact on native vertebrates such as the 

 badger. Our ongoing study was initiated to 

 determine the distribution and status of badgers 

 in Illinois. 



Trends in carnivore abundance are difficult 

 to evaluate because most species are secretive 

 or visually cryptic. Trapping records, one of the 

 earliest historical data sources for furbearers, 

 are virtually nonexistent for badgers in the 

 1800"s (Obbard et al. 1987). In Illinois, badgers 

 have been protected from harvest since 1957. 

 Furthemiore, population estimates derived from 

 furbearer harvest data are complicated by mar- 

 ket price bias (Erickson 1982). Thus, data for 

 estimating long-term population trends in 

 Illinois badgers are few and flawed. Our 

 approach is to document and evaluate current 



