For decades, scientists working to conserve black-footed ferrets spent long nights in prairie dog towns hoping for a glimpse of green eyes shining back at them, reflections of their lights in the eyes of the ferocious ferrets while above ground. But what they did underground with their sleek, snake-like bodies and massive canines was just guesswork. However, for the first time ever, advances in technology are changing the way scientists see the species, both above and below ground.

Former Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist Jesse Boulerice, now a research ecologist and species reintroduction specialist with the Smithsonian National Zoo’s Great Plains science project, has been working on new projects, including special lightweight, high-frequency tracking technology for monitoring aboveground movements and a novel method that tracks fine-scale changes in acceleration, orientation and magnetometry to map movements underground. The team’s research gives them information they’ve never had on the species and prey in their natural habitat, Boulerice said.

“The beauty there is now we know their movement,” he said. “Because the burrows are only a given shape...[prairie dog and ferret] movement tells us the shape of the burrow. That’s something we know very little about,” he said Thursday during an interview with the Tribune.

Collars

In past research attempting to discover the mysteries below ground, Game and Fish biologists filled a small handful of burrows with concrete. They then dug the dried forms out to understand more about the underground habitat. The work was exhausting and intrusive to the habitat. The new tracking device, which is like wearing a Fitbit on a collar, means scientists can put down the shovels and look to the data which is collected 40 times per second.

“Our goal is to refine the techniques that would allow us to better understand ferret habitats and their impact on the landscape,” the Smithsonian National Zoo reported in a January press release. “With better data, decision-makers can shape their management strategies to ensure that critical habitat areas are capable of supporting healthy animal populations.”

One of the complicated issues with the device: The data is collected on a tiny memory card on the collar. To retrieve the data they have to retrieve the collar. Prairie dogs and ferrets fitted with collars had to be live-trapped twice in a short amount of time.

Biologists deployed 50 collars, which cost about $400 each. Unfortunately, some of the collars were disabled by prairie dogs, who socially groom each other. They would chew on the early versions of the collars. They couldn’t chew all the way through, but they managed to ruin the wiring, rendering them useless. It forced the team to redesign the collars.

Keeping collars on both species was also quite the trick. Like thick-necked dogs, the collars would slide off over their heads if not tightened perfectly. Of course, it was also probably worse to have the collar too tight.

“It was more of a problem with the ferrets,” Boulerice said. “It was quite a learning experience.”

The day they decided to collar 50 prairie dogs at once was one of those learning experiences as well, he said. They then let the rodents “do their thing” and were faced with capturing the same animals in a short amount of time. They had a solid plan, but luck was needed on their side.

“We really want to recatch them, because, A, it’s expensive, and B, we want the data. We caught 47 out of the 50 within like, two days of trapping.”

The program’s goal is to uncover how these animals use space and time in these underground networks of tunnel systems. This research can help address questions related to disease ecology, predator-prey dynamics and habitat requirements, which could change the way we view and conserve this endangered species. This endeavor is a joint effort between the Smithsonian team and Swansea University (in South Wales), American Prairie, Fort Belknap Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and several other state, federal and nongovernmental partners. 

While the teams have been aggressively collecting data, they aren’t ready to publish a paper for peer review yet. Collecting data at 40 times a second means they can tell exactly what subjects are doing — even chewing is detectable — but it is a ton of data and will take months before they can share results.

Drones

Another technology helping the team are specialty drones specially outfitted for several types of tasks. The team is leading an effort to improve data quality by combining aerial drone imagery with artificial intelligence. Their aim is to develop a new tool that would allow for a more accurate assessment of black-footed ferret habitat, enabling ecologists to quickly and accurately identify trends, and prioritize conservation actions to ensure key habitat areas remain stable.

Not only can scientists see animals as small as mice scampering across the landscape with these high-dollar, high definition cameras during the daylight hours, they also use thermal imaging to see when the nocturnal ferrets are at work during the evening hours, Boulerice said.

Because prairie dogs represent about 90% of the black-footed ferrets’ diet, the two species are inseperable. Being able to map large swaths of land, finding viable habitat remotely, also saves a ton of time. Of the two current reintroduction areas in Wyoming, the Meeteetse-area habitat is just over 3,800 acres, while the Shirley Basin habitat expands for more than 180,000 acres.

Long considered a pest, prairie dogs are a keystone species and ecosystem engineer that supports more than a dozen other species by providing a source of food and shelter. Ferrets also make their homes in the burrows. Sylvatic plague, a disease spread by fleas, is deadly to both ferrets and prairie dogs, and has drastically reduced prairie dog populations throughout North America. 

“This technology has the potential to open a new window into the lives of two iconic prairie species and could revolutionize our understanding of their biology and ecology and the ecosystem as a whole,” said Hila Shamon, coleader of the project and a research ecologist. “That kind of deep understanding of how these animals utilize their underground habitat is essential for continued prairie dog and black-footed ferret recovery efforts.”

Boulerice is a licensed drone pilot and does much of the data collection. He said the new technology is nice, but that even when using VHF tracking collars above ground, the drones not only make quick work of the job, but also triangulate the information automatically, saving time and resources.

After deployment of VHF collars, scientists then use an antenna by foot to discover the subjects’ location. The drones can cover the same distance in a fraction of the time. No matter how much a drone saves time, there’s a ton of work left to do — so much that not one single agency can do it all, said Game and Fish Small Predator Biologist Andy Gygli.

“It’s a lot of work, and a lot of different people and agencies are involved,” he said. “Really no single entity could do this all on their own. So it’s a partnership between Fish and Wildlife, BLM, the USDA Wildlife Services, the Game and Fish Department and our private landowners.”

Gygli said he is looking forward to the results of the research, as well as hoping that the cloning of black-footed ferrets will help diversify genetics “on the ground” in areas needing that boost. But for him, habitat conservation is his life.

“It’s really the habitat management that is most important for me in my job,” he said. “You can’t live somewhere if you don’t have the right resources available to you.”

In both Wyoming habitats, Gygli and his teams do annual surveillance looking for early warning signs indicating the need of management. The following actions can result in treating for plague or supplemental releases to provide more reproductive opportunities for the animals already on the landscape.

“I can cover maybe 15,000 acres (per year) with spot-lighters and that’s a hard fought 15,000 acres.”

While drones may allow teams to cover more ground, Gygli doesn’t think the new tech tools will be able to completely replace boots on the ground. Rather, the new technologies will simply become new tools in the toolbox for the scientific community.

He said the Shirley Basin populations are doing very well, but was more reserved describing the Meeteetse-area habitat.

“They [black-footed ferrets] are a lower abundance than we’d like,” he said of the habitat that has shrunk 35% from 6,000 acres to 3,800.

Currently, there are approximately 300-400 black-footed ferrets in the wild and 280 black-footed ferrets at captive breeding facilities, including at the National Zoo, which has participated in the cooperative breeding program since 1988.

As of 2022, the USFWS breeding and reintroduction program has resulted in more than 7,000 black-footed ferret kit births across six zoos and more than 2,600 of those animals being reintroduced into the wild. These recovery efforts are managed by the USFWS National Black-Footed Ferret Conservation Center and partners in multiple states.

In the wild, black-footed ferrets typically have a short lifespan, with most individuals living for only 1-3 years, but some living up to 4-5 years, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Just seeing reintroduced ferrets on the landscape excites Gygli.

“Every year it’s like Christmas. I get to see what’s happened over the winter and how things are doing. And every year it’s been slow and steady progress,” he said.