The Ferrets are the best known of all the weasel family. Cruelty is the birthright of these curious creatures. They destroy wantonly and viciously, and yet ferrets prove that, when properly handled, they can be tamed, and are capable of great affection. The ferrets are best recognized by their lithe, creamy-white bodies, pointed noses, and fierce little pink eyes. At one time it was thought that the ferret and pole-cat were the same animal, but now it is well known that they are not. The pole-cat lives in the North, while the ferret originally came from Africa. When living in captivity, these little creatures must be kept very warm, for if by chance they get shut out of doors and the weather turns cold they will die. Set a thief to catch a thief holds good with the ferret, for it is counted as vermin itself, and yet it is used to kill rats. A large rat is nearly a match for the ferret, and it has been said that after a ferret has been mauled by one it will never face a stand-up fight again.
There are really two kinds of ferrets, the one a beautiful creamy-white creature, the other larger, fiercer, and with a good deal of black in its coat. This last one is a cross between a true ferret and a pole-cat, and is often used in rat-catching, while the smaller species only in rabbit-hunting.
The game-keeper carries the ferret to the rabbit-warren in a small bag in his outside pocket, and when taken out it is muzzled. It would never do to let the ferret run loose down in the burrows, for it would kill the first rabbit it came across, and could not be coaxed out until it had had a meal. For this reason they are taken into the field hungry, so as to keep them active. In rabbit-hunting the burrow holes are covered with a slack net, and when the ferret is turned into the ground it begins at once to chase the inhabitants through all the windings and twistings, until the bunnies, in terror, fly out of their holes only to get tangled up in the net. When the ferret comes out it is put back in the bag.
A ferret that did not return from one of the burrows was given up for lost by its owner. A week later a servant of the manor house (which, by the way, was a mile and a half from the field) found the little ferret on the kitchen door-step, very cold and hungry, patiently waiting to be let in.
 |
| The white ferret looks for rabbit. |
The game-keeper carries the ferret to the rabbit-warren in a small bag in his outside pocket, and when taken out it is muzzled. It would never do to let the ferret run loose down in the burrows, for it would kill the first rabbit it came across, and could not be coaxed out until it had had a meal. For this reason they are taken into the field hungry, so as to keep them active. In rabbit-hunting the burrow holes are covered with a slack net, and when the ferret is turned into the ground it begins at once to chase the inhabitants through all the windings and twistings, until the bunnies, in terror, fly out of their holes only to get tangled up in the net. When the ferret comes out it is put back in the bag.
A ferret that did not return from one of the burrows was given up for lost by its owner. A week later a servant of the manor house (which, by the way, was a mile and a half from the field) found the little ferret on the kitchen door-step, very cold and hungry, patiently waiting to be let in.
More About Ferrets:
