Happy National Ferret Day! (really)

Nature 4 Minutes

Happy National Ferret Day! In honor of the “holiday”, brush up on your knowledge about everyone’s favorite (and longest) polecat-like pet.

Ferrets have been domesticated for a quite a while.

It is unclear exactly when ferrets were first domesticated, but the critters have a long and storied history. Greek scholars—Aristophanes in 450 BCE and Aristotle in 350 BCE—wrote about a ferret-like animal. Some lore asserts that ancient Egyptians even kept them as pets, but the absence of ferret bones in explored tombs casts doubt on that claim. Remains have been found in a medieval castle in Belgium, but there is no mention of the pets in any contemporary writings. It’s also possible that the ferret was exclusively a lower-class pet, which would explain the lack of documentation.

In the late 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci painted Cecilia Gallerani holding a weasel-like creature. Although the animal has been dubbed an ermine, many scholars believe the animal is actually a ferret.

They are related to polecats.

Ferrets are the domesticated subspecies of European polecats. They can easily interbreed to produce offspring that are very similar to domestic ferrets.

When threatened, ferrets will dance.

In the wild, ferrets and stoats perform a hypnotic dance that sends their prey into a trance. Domestic ferrets also perform this dance, but they use it for play instead of hunting. They arch their backs, puff their tails, and move from side to side. This rug-cutting is usually a sign that the ferret is happy and having fun.

Black-footed ferrets almost exclusively eat prairie dogs.

Wild black-footed ferrets, or American polecats, live in central North America and feast on unsuspecting prairie dogs. Scientists discovered that in South Dakota, 91 percent of the black-footed ferret’s diet consisted of prairie dogs.

Unfortunately, their main source of food has bigger problems than being eaten: The Black Death. The plague is no longer a worry for most humans, but it has a tendency to wipe out whole colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs. This threat is a real issue for the endangered black-footed ferrets, which perish without their favorite food. Luckily researchers have found a vaccine that could help keep the tiny rodents healthy. Testing is currently underway to see if the vaccine works in the wild.

A group of ferrets is called a business.

Now that’s a professional pet!

Ferrets can be used to hunt rabbits.

Rabbit hunting with ferrets is a popular sport in England. The ferrets run into rabbit holes to run the prey out of hiding. When the rabbits dash from their homes, human hunters trap them in nets. The tiny hunters wear ferret finder collars so that if they corner a rabbit underground, their owners can come to their rescue with a shovel. 

They can team up with falcons.

Falconers employ ferrets in a similar role; the only difference is that the ferrets are used to bring the prey to the falcons. The two animals make a great hunting team.

Some ferrets have jobs.

Known for their love of burrowing, ferrets can put their skill at running through pipes to a variety of professional uses. When wires cannot be pushed through tubes or tunnels with rods, the tiny critters can step in. They are known for pulling wire through underground tunnels, and even helped lay wire for London’s Party in the Park concert in 1999.

One famous ferret named Felicia helped clean pipes at Fermilab’s Meson Laboratory in 1971. A swab connected to her collar allowed her to clear away unwanted debris. Although Felicia only cost $35, she likely saved the lab thousands of dollars.

Ferret racing is a popular sport.

Ferret racing is a popular sport in London that involves competing ferrets racing through drainpipes. A small section of the pipe is removed and replaced with chicken wire so viewers can know when the pets are half-way through. Apparently, the animals thoroughly enjoy the games, and the company of their fellow ferrets.

Scammers have sold ferrets on steroids as fancy poodles.

If you are looking to get a tiny exotic dog, make sure you’re not actually buying a ferret. In 2013, some Argentineans were being tricked into buying fake miniature poodles. Ferrets were given steroids and new haircuts before being passed off as tiny purebred dogs. The owners often didn’t realize they had accidentally bought drugged ferrets until visiting the vet for shots.

Females can die if they go too long without mating.

Unspayed females need to mate or run the risk of producing too much estrogen. The overproduction can lead to estrogen toxicity, or hyperestrogenism. This condition can lead to anemia, clotting, and death.

Scientists fiddled with a ferret’s brain and made a startling discovery.

In the 1990s, neuroscientists at MIT reconfigured baby ferrets’ brains so that the critters’ retinas were connected to their auditory cortexes. They expected the ferrets to go blind, but miraculously, they readjusted so that the auditory cortex worked like the visual cortex; they could see using the part of the brain normally used for hearing. This discovery showed that the brain is adaptable and makes use of what’s available. ”It’s just waiting for signals from the environment and will wire itself according to the input it gets,” Dr. Jon Kaas, a professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University, told The New York Times in 2000.

They love to jump.

But sometimes they land in some unfortunate places.

Source: Mental Floss

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177 thoughts on “Happy National Ferret Day! (really)”

  1. hoosiertruthfan
    hoosiertruthfan
    April 2, 2023 3:35 pm

    Does anyone else find it sketchy that Lee Zeldin proclaimed he would take on Alvin Bragg as the Manhattan DA and DeSantis backs out of doing a fundraiser for Zeldin under suspicious circumstances?

    Had Zeldin won in NY, the case against DJT in NY would likely have not proceeded.
    If it hadn’t proceeded, things were tougher for DeSantis and a presidential run.

    This is how little I trust the Rove Club for Growth warmonger crowd.

    And who is being floated as a possible running mate for DeSantis? None other than Brian Kemp of GA. Another state where DJT will likely face prosecution.

    Curiouser and curiouser.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes, this is very good! He has his head on straight now and has been thru a LOT in his young life. He has learned his lessons well. He has spoken off-and-on for many years about his close friend, Courtney, who was also friends with his wife, Ashley, in HS. They all went to school together. Ashley screwed over both of them and they have stayed in touch thru the years.

        They both found themselves free and unencumbered for the first time and decided to make a life together. They will get an apartment in Norfolk and her uncle, I think it is, can get him hired on at Norfolk Iron & Metal – a great job with great pay. He also wants to pursue getting his CDL to perhaps drive truck. And he still has other friends here with whom he has stayed in touch. My favorite gas station in Meadow Grove? He lived for a few months with the people who own that and they ask me occasionally how he’s doing.

        Liked by 2 people

  3. “Eat Your Vaccines!… I Mean Vegtables!… Said Bill Gates”
    Tom Renz
    32 min ago

    EXCERPT: “I have been talking about gene therapy vaccines being introduced into the food supply without providing people informed consent on my Twitter account (@RenzTom) as well as pushing Missouri HB1169 which is our best bet of stopping this happening. This is a nightmare scenario whereby people’s genetics are potentially altered with “factory foods” without them even knowing.

    Let me begin by putting to rest any questions as to whether this can happen. The idea of vaccines in food has been around for a long time & is definitely possible. Here is a great article from the year 2000 with a wonderful picture (look at page 3) of exactly how this would be done in vegetables. Here is an article published in the NIH (you know – by our government) talking about foods “under application” to be genetically modified to become edible vaccines – FROM 2013. Below is a screenshot taken of a Google search for “food as a vaccine” taken on Sunday April 2, 2023 (I’m certain Google will begin hiding search results soon but at the time it returned 456 million results!).”

    https://tomrenz.substack.com/p/eat-your-vaccines-i-mean-vegtables

    Liked by 1 person

  4. j x
    j x
    April 2, 2023 5:00 pm

    Bragg hired Matt Colangelo to revive the “zombie case” against Trump. Colangelo was Deputy Assistant to President Obama.

    In December, Soros-backed Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg hired Matt Colangelo to revive the “zombie case” against Trump.

    The media portrayed Matt as a “former senior DOJ and NY AG official.”

    Failed to mention?

    Matt was a political appointee for both Obama and Biden Administrations. pic.twitter.com/sgmy71DtMP

    — 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) April 2, 2023

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Liked by 1 person

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