One of the most fascinating things about the black-footed ferret is their life cycle. The black-footed ferret mates in the months of March and April. Also, the female has a litter of 3-5 babies, after 41 days of mating in a prairie dog hole under the ground. The female then nurses and cares for her young, while the male hunts for prairie dogs at night. Usually, the offspring are blind, helpless little creatures and have white fur when first born. After the young develops, it will leave its mother in the season of Fall and begin to have darker colored fur. They typically live for only 12 years.