[Taxacom] black-footed ferret reintroductions

[Ken Kinman]

Dear All,
     North America's most endangered mammal, the black-footed ferret (once 
thought extinct), is being slowly reintroduced back into the wild.  However, 
efforts to do so in Kansas may be scuttled by neighboring ranchers and the 
Logan County Commission.  Using an old state "eradication" law, the county 
can enter the proposed reintroduction sites to poison the prairie dogs (and 
adding insult to injury, send a hefty bill to the landowners).  Such action 
could begin on October 1, and very well ruin any chance of introducing the 
black-footed ferret on any of those sites.  For those interested, 
yesterday's Hays Daily News printed an editorial and several related stories 
on the heated debate over how to control prairie dogs without resorting to 
poison.  Here's the weblink (to the editorial and 5 related stories):

http://www.dailynews.net/hdnews/prairiedogs/index.html