Habitat and Range

This image shows the range of the black footed ferret

The black footed ferret lives in the grassland biome.  The grassland biome includes prairies, steppes and meadows.  The grassland biome is mostly grass, and there are very little trees or shrubs due to wildfires.  The grasslands or the Great Plains, where the black footed ferret live, have many different types of grass including tall grass, medium grass, short grass and bunch grass. Many animals live in close proximity with the black footed ferret.  Before the settlers, there were immense herds of buffalo and the pronghorn.  Also, chipmunks, muskrats, prairie dogs, moles and ground squirrels reside with the black footed ferret.

This picture shows the ferrets natural habitat.

 The black footed ferrets live in the Great Plains, which is the name for the grassland biome where the ferret lives, which includes parts of the United States, Canada and Mexico.  The Great Plains encompass the states of Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Minnesota, Missouri, Wyoming, and Iowa. They also encompass the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and the Mexican state of Chihuahua.  In the Great Plains the mean rainfall is 20-35 inches a year.  Also, grasslands have a mean high temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit and a mean low temperature of -40 degrees Fahrenheit.  

The black footed ferret helps maintain balance in it’s habitat.