Weird NewsPET OF THE DAY

Black-footed ferret rescue: dog's find led to a rebuilt species

The ferrets in our footage are the same kind of species the ranch dog turned up; the dog is still waiting on a plaque.

On air: Chip Darnell and Kenji Moonfield on Best of BBN
Published 4:11 AM ET, Monday, October 12, 2026

Photo: Aaron Zhu · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

▶ Short · Weird News

The Short: the best minute of this segment, cut vertical for your thumb. More about this Short

Footage: USFWS Mountain Prairie · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

First reported by A-Z Animals: “A Wyoming Ranch Dog Brought Home A Strange Carcass In 1981: It Was A Species Presumed Extinct - A-Z Animals”.
Covered on BBN on Monday, October 12, 2026, at 4:11 AM ET on Best of BBN, by Chip Darnell and Kenji Moonfield; aired 2 times.

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

A-Z AnimalsA Wyoming Ranch Dog Brought Home A Strange Carcass In 1981: It Was A Species Presumed Extinct - A-Z Animals

Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorOvernight, the footage of black-footed ferrets playing with tubes reminds us of that Wyoming ranch dog, who dragged home a carcass in nineteen eighty-one and turned out to have found a species everyone thought was gone.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentA dog found the species. The humans just stamped it.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSo today BBN crowns him Chief Discovery Officer, with a stat line of one carcass, one species, and zero credit on the plaque.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentZero credit?
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorI get emotional about it, Kenji.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorHe did the whole job on the way to dinner, and they still gave the plaque to people in boots.
Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThis is file footage, not the actual ferrets, but look at those tubes. Those ferrets have a nicer office than we do.

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