October 12, 2011
Black-Footed Ferret in Buffalo Gap National Grassland, Conata Basin, South Dakota

I made this image of an endangered black-footed ferret during a very exciting outing in Buffalo Gap National Grassland in the Conata Basin of South Dakota. Jan had done all of the leg work, and last night a land manager with The Nature Conservancy took us out to photograph the ferrets.

Black-footed ferrets were declared extinct in 1979, but a small population was discovered in 1987. A captive breeding program was established by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and ferrets were released back into the wild from 1991 to 2008. The Conata Basin of South Dakota is the home of the largest population of black-footed ferrets, and we were fortunate to locate three individuals within a very short time — the first black-footed ferrets that Jan and I had ever seen. What a thrill!

The vehicle we were in had a searchlight on top that was used to locate the ferrets and also illuminate the scene while photographing. Because it was so dark, we had to focus manually and use flash to make our images.