32 Nebraskaland • June 2024
animals, the six pheasant plates were
her favorite to paint in the Nebraska
Treasure collection, followed by
the meadowlarks for their vibrant,
contrasting hues.
"Most of my paintings came from
photographs. I'm sure quite a few
of them came from Nebraskaland
Magazine," Pelter said. While
painting her wildfl ower pieces, she
often thought of the work of Michele
Farrar, who used her late husband's
photographs to create etchings
of Nebraska plants and fl owers
— Jon Farrar was a Nebraskaland
photographer and writer for over 40
years.
The black-footed ferret is one of
Pelter's more obscure subjects. She felt
inspired to paint the ferret, a species
listed as endangered in Nebraska and
federally, after a visit to a nearby state
park, where she happened to read some
educational material on the weasel.
Once thought to be extinct due to
habitat loss, black-footed ferrets were
rediscovered in the 1980s in Wyoming.
The ferrets' historic range included
the Great Plains, mountain basins
and semi-arid grasslands in 12 states,
including Nebraska. Biologists guess
there are only 300-350 individuals left
in the wild in all of North America.
"For some reason, that intrigued me
— the idea that these animals are out
there somewhere, but nobody knows
Five of nine plates that Pelter painted of the black-footed ferret, an endangered
species in Nebraska and federally.
