by Helen Butterworth

Created on: January 20, 2007   Last Updated: March 06, 2009

The first time I ever met a ferret was about a year ago at a village fair. He was dark with a little burglar mask over his eyes and he was curled up in a circle, sleeping lazily in his hammock.

Never did I think that a year later, one of these crazy critters would end up being one of my best friends!

Last year, a friend of mine had found a stray male ferret in town and didnt want to keep him, so I said I would come and pick him up that afternoon. I had no idea what to expect or what would be expected from me.

That same day I bought a large cage, water bottle, and some cat food and drove round armed with a cardboard box to pick him up.

I was initially really scared of him for the first two weeks. I would let him run around the front room exploring. It was really quite intimidating. I would sit on the sofa with my feet tucked up next to me, wrapped in a blanket so that my toes would not be nipped. He would then get over excited and throw himself from side to side jumping up and down, bumping into things, making a dooking noise and frightening the life out of me! He had so much energy!

Two weeks later and after extensive internet research, I had already changed his diet and was feeding him raw chicken, raw egg's, and ferret nuggets from the local shop. I learnt that the jumping action is called the "Weasel war dance". This is what a ferret does to tell another ferret or human that he wants to play, sometimes even bouncing off your leg.

The nipping of the toes is just something that baby ferrets do, baby ferret's are called Kit's, they use their teeth to mouth things and learn what they are. Also because they have such thick skin, it can be quick painful to a human, whereas another ferret would just see it as wrestling and play time. This is why the Kit's need to be taught that they are hurting you, and once they have overcome this and been taught well, they are THE MOST cuddliest loveable animals ever created.

One thing I will say, and I will say with confidence, if you ever have the honour of owning a ferret, they will make you laugh every day without a doubt and keep you so happy. Even when a ferret gets old, it still remains full of energy and love.

I now own three ferrets. One handsome male, whom you have already met, and two beautiful albino princesses. The two girls are sisters and they have never been seperated. Ferrets are best kept together, as they can get very lonely left by themselves, even with a human companion, they are still much happied with a ferret

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