Ferrets Facts

Ferrets Facts

1. The Black footed ferret is a member to the weasel family.It has a long neck and black marking on its face, the tip of its tail, and on its feet. It is very quick and agile and is most active at night . 

2. Prairie Dogs make up main staple of of the ferrets diet although they occasionally eat mice and other small animals. 

3. Ferrets are mustelids. The oldest known mustelid fossils are from more than 20 million years ago and may share a common ancestor with another group that is often masked, the procyonids like raccoons. They are very different from yet another group that looks somewhat similar but instead is descended from the cat branch, that group being the viverrids, including civets and gnwets.

4. The closest wild relatives of ferrets are some European polecats that live in burrows and mostly have crepuscular activity. Crepuscular means that they are most active in twilight periods such as dusk and dawn. 

5. The diets of these animals differ depending on location, with the main food source being small rodents in some areas but frogs in others.

6. The black-footed ferret is a cousin but you can see some shared behaviors. Have you watched your ferret grab a toy and scoot backward, dragging it between the front paws. That is how black-footed ferrets move rocks away from burrows.

7. The origin of the domestic ferret is Europe or Africa.  It was first domesticated over 3000 years ago, although there are said to be pictures of ferrets helping people in Egypt from around 4000 B.C.  Ferrets were first brought to the United States about 300 years ago. 

8. Ferrets are used by electricians to run wires and cables through tubes and other small areas that are inaccessible to humans. 

9. Ferrets are best trained by rewards.  They bond to their owners and will suffer emotionally if the owner tires of them and abandons them after a year or two. 

10. They need to be vaccinated for both canine distemper and rabies every year. 

11. An unspayed female ferret is called a jill while a spayed female is a sprite. An intact male is a hob and a neutered male is called a gib. Baby ferrets are called kits.

12. They come in four basic colors: albino, cream, sable, and silver, and may have different patterns and markings of white fur, including bibs, mitts, blazes and roans.

13. Their flexible bodies make them adept at fitting into tight spaces, including rabbit warrens.

14. Ferrets are crepuscular, most active at dawn and dusk, and spend about sixteen hours a day sleeping!

15. Ferrets are obligate carnivores, that is, they eat whole small prey, including the bones, organs, fur and feathers.  They are efficient hunters of rodents, rabbits, small birds and snakes.  At the Zoo, they eat ferret pellets, meat, and mice. 

16. Domestic ferrets are in the same family as weasels, otters, skunks, ermines, badgers, fishers, and mink.  They are not rodents. 

17. Ferrets have a musky scent about them.  Getting them spayed or neutered will decrease the smell.  They also have scent sacs like skunks do, and these are often removed by pet owners to decrease the spraying that they can do when excited or afraid. 

18. The most common color is the sable (as in the picture above).  Other colors are chocolate, cinnamon, silver, and albino.  Ferrets have heavy coats in winter and lighter ones in summer. Many lighten in color as they age. 

19. Ferrets cannot tolerate high temperatures and are at risk of heat stroke at temperatures of 85 degrees F or higher.  This is because they cannot sweat or cool themselves down naturally.

20. Their bodies are extremely flexible.  They have excellent senses of smell, touch (whiskers), and hearing.  

21. They have sharp claws for digging and hanging onto things. 

22. Ferrets can be litter box trained. They use corners for toilets.  They are about 70% compliant with litter box use.  They can “forget” to use their litter boxes if excited or confused. 

23. Ferrets groom themselves like cats.  They also have thick skin that protects them from strong play-bites by other ferrets.  Ferret play involves mock combat.  They bite and drag each other around, but this usually doesn’t hurt. 

24. Ferrets are very curious by nature and can get into small spaces to investigate.  Homes need to be “ferret proofed” and they should never be left alone in an unprotected room.  They love to steal small (and not so small) objects and stash them under chairs and behind furniture. 

25. Ferrets sleep about 16 hours a day, but readily adapt to their owner’s schedule.  They will play hard 30 minutes -5 hours a day, depending on their age (day or night doesn’t matter).  They often stop suddenly to scratch or to plop down flat on the floor, only to jump up and return to their active pace.  Happy ferrets do a “dance” whereby they hop on all fours back and forth with the back arched, head up, and mouth open. This is often an invitation to play with them.

26. The origin of the domestic ferret is Europe or Africa.  It was first domesticated over 3000 years ago, although there are said to be pictures of ferrets helping people in Egypt from around 4000 B.C.  Ferrets were first brought to the United States about 300 years ago. 

27. Ghenghis Khan used them for hunting.

28. The word ferret comes from the Latin word "furonem" which means "thief" or “Mouse”.

29. Emperor Caesar used ferrets for hunting and Aristotle wrote about them.

30. The black footed ferret is a cousin but you can see some shared behaviors. Have you watched your ferret grab a toy and scoot backward, dragging it between the front paws? That is how black-footed ferrets move rocks away from burrows.