History of Domestic Ferrets

Video Transcript

" Hi there! I’m Fran Freedman here at Morning Starr Animal Sanctuary. If you would like to visit our website it’s www.morningstarr.org. I’d like to talk to you about ferret history on behalf of expertvillage.com. Ferrets have been domesticated for over 2 thousand years. There are recorded to be back in the time of Cesar Augustus. They were used for rodent control. Ferrets are not rodents; they are in the weasel family. They’re closest relative is the polecat, the mink, and the weasel. They are not wild and they are not even exotic, because if you look up the term for exotic, that means if they do get out they can adapt to the wild, and they can’t. They are definitely domesticated and do not survive out in the wild for more than a couple of days. The ferrets are still used in Europe for rabbit hunting. They’re put down in the rabbit holes and they go all the way. The rabbit pops out and that’s what happens. They’ve also been used by airlines and space shuttles for wiring. They just attach something to them and they send them through a tunnel. They’ll always keep going until they get to the end. So they have probably wired a couple of planes that you may have been on. They are definitely domestic and do need care, and have to be kept indoors in a safe environment. "