Whether it’s about Amazon deliveries or racing competitions, drones have been used in numbers of different unexpected aspects of life. But probably nothing is more doubtful than a plan on saving the black-footed ferrets, a scarce mammal in the Great Plains.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) wants to use drones to distribute vaccine-coated M&Ms across the Montana’s UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge to help guard the animals from a destructive disease.

The vaccine fights against an infection known as sylvatic plague that has been destroying both the prairie dog and ferret populations across the region. This is significant because the tinnier prairie dogs are a very important food source for the endangered ferrets.

As per an FWS document outlining the project that was published March 31, 2016, the ferrets also use the burrows of prairie dogs for shelter.

The Guardian newspaper reported that the vaccine is going to be mixed into peanut butter, and then smeared onto M&Ms to tempt the animals to consume it. FWS biologist Randy Machett told the paper that prairie dogs found the bait ‘delicious’.

For long, the black-footed ferret has been facing problems. In 1967, the species was declared endangered, and is considered among rarest mammals in North America.

In the proposal, FWS wrote, “Plague is a primary obstacle to black-footed ferret recovery. After more than 20 years of intensive reintroduction efforts across 27 reintroduction sites ranging from Mexico to Canada, approximately 300 ferrets were known to exist in the wild at the end of 2015”.

Previously, the key tool to deal with the plague was treatment of prairie dog burrows using chemicals to kill fleas, main carrier of the bacteria that results into plague. Sadly, the technique tuned ineffective when fleas become resistant to the chemical treatment.

According to a story published on the topic by CBS News, "From Amazon deliveries to racing competitions, drones are being drawn into many unexpected aspects of life. But perhaps none is more unlikely than a plan dreamed up to help save the black-footed ferrets, an endangered mammal in the Great Plains."

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) intends to use drones to scatter vaccine-coated M&Ms over the UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge in Montana to help protect the animals from a devastating disease.

The vaccine combats an infection called sylvatic plague that is decimating both the prairie dog and ferret populations in the area. This is important, because the smaller prairie dogs are a crucial food source for the endangered ferrets. The ferrets also use the prairie dogs' burrows for shelter, according to an FWS document outlining the project that was published March 31, 2016.

"Plague is a primary obstacle to black-footed ferret recovery," the FWS wrote in its proposal. "After more than 20 years of intensive reintroduction efforts across 27 reintroduction sites ranging from Mexico to Canada, approximately 300 ferrets were known to exist in the wild at the end of 2015."

"M&Ms aren't just for snacking in the office or gorging on during Halloween. They could also give the endangered black-footed ferret a better chance at survival," according to a news report published by Cnet News.

The much needed vaccination is for the Sylvatic plague, a deadly disease transmitted via fleas that bite prairie dogs, the ferrets' main food source. The M&Ms are smeared with vaccine-laden peanut butter, which the prairie dogs eat. (Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents and not actual dogs.)

"We dropped the vaccine out of a bag while walking around, but that's very hard to do over thousands of acres," USFWS biologist Randy Machett told The Guardian. "We are working with private contractors to develop equipment to drop the vaccine uniformly across an area."

While less than 300 black-footed ferrets remain in the US, according to the USFWS, the agency hopes this new effort will help to prevent the ferrets from dying by making sure their prairie dog prey doesn't succumb to the Sylvatic plague. If the drone experiment is successful, other states such as Arizona and Colorado may follow Montana's lead.

A report published in Tech Times News said, "The endangered species in question is the black-footed ferret, which is affected by the declining population of prairie dogs. Prairie dogs are the main source of food for the ferrets, and the underground burrows that they dig out serve as shelter for the ferrets. However, the prairie dog population is likewise decreasing because of the sylvatic plague, which is a disease that is being propagated by fleas and rats."

To carry and deploy the vaccine, a "glorified gumball machine" has been devised to be used by the drones, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Randy Machett. The device will be fitted to the drones, which will be using GPS systems to dispense the vaccines at intervals of 30 feet in three directions.

The vaccine will be injected in peanut butter, which will be smeared on M&M candies. According to tests, this treat is the one that prairie dogs are very attracted to, as a dye that has been added to the mix often shows up on the whiskers of the animals.

The actual type of the drone that will be involved in the project has not yet been determined, as the proposal has not yet received the final approval. However, according to Machett, using drones is the cheapest and fastest way to distribute the vaccine, which should mean that it will soon be given the green light.