Basic Ferret Information
The Ferret
The Ferret is the domesticated polecat (Mustela Putorius): it has been used in various types of pest control for at least 2,000 years. Having been introduced to Britain by the Romans, ferrets had to await the introduction of the rabbit, by the Normans, before man utilised their instinctive skills for rabbiting on this island.
With the Normans also came manor houses which established rabbit warrens, series of burrows in which rabbits live. It was to bolt rabbits from these that ferrets were put to use. The ferreter or warrener was an important person in the feudal economy, providing fresh meat for much of the year.
Ferreting
Ferreting is a sport, enjoyed by young and old, which efficiently performs the important service of controlling rabbit populations that are an agricultural pest.
The ferreter spreads purse nets over rabbit holes, tying the draw chord of the net to a peg. The ferret goes down the holes, the ferreter duly waits silently and listens. Rabbits are bolted and caught in the nets as they hit them at speed, the nets pursing around them and holding them until the ferreter humanely dispatches them.
The same method of bolting rabbits can be used without netting the holes, but rather shooting them, as they provide a sporting shot racing over open ground, or setting falcons after them.
Some ferreters have now adopted electronic locating devices on collars worn by the ferret -- to tell the handler where the ferret is when it is below ground. But this single, optional development in the sport is the only difference between the way ferreting was carried out in the 14th century and the way it will be carried out in the 21st.
Keeping ferrets
Many people, particularly youngsters, keep ferrets both as pets and as working rabbit hunters. (In the United States, ferrets or 'fuzzies' are considered exotic pets and come from one bloodline: many Americans are fascinated by the hunting origins and sporting ways of their pets' cousins on this side of the Atlantic).
Ferrets, which are hardy little animals that take well to cage life so long as they are properly fed, watered, exercised and cared for, come in various colours -- from the brown and black of their wild polecat ancestors through sandy shades to the popular albino (all white).
Ferrets are NOT wild animals and are covered by all the provisions of the Pet Animals Act. They are carnivores and require a high-protein, high-fat diet of mainly meat and/or meat derivatives, with fresh water available at all times. Recently marketed dried foods for ferrets provide a useful high-vitamin addition.
This page is from the excellent site at BFSS
For further information, the Ferret Welfare Society should be contacted through the British Field Sports Society press office on +44 171 928 4742.