Salamone 1 Nicholas 10-10-13 English 12 What kind of relationships can form between ferrets and humans? What is a ferret?

Some people might have you believe that ferrets are filthy rodents and should be treated as such, whereas other people may tell you that theyre soft, fuzzy, lovable pets that fit in as part of the family, but what is a ferret really, and what kinds of relationships can humans have with them? It is in my understanding, based on research, that humans and ferrets can build bonds as strong as any two humans could make. The information I gathered suggests that almost anything a person does with a ferret can make them friendlier and more trustworthy toward that person. A ferret is a small mammal with a long, lean, slender body with short muscular legs. The paws of a ferret have five toes; each with their own curved pointed claws. The head of a ferret is oval shaped with a pointed snout. Male ferrets, usually referred to as hobs if not neutered, usually grow to about sixteen to twenty inches long, and can weigh about three to five pounds. Female ferrets, jills if not spayed, only grow to be about twelve to fourteen inches long, and weigh about one and a half to three pounds. Ferrets are bred into a variety of different colors that range from butterscotch, which are creamy or light yellow in color, to standard sable, which is a warm brown color with a raccoon-like mask across their face. (American Ferret Association) Ferrets are descendants of domesticated European polecats. Polecats can be found in open forest and meadow areas, and were captured and domesticated by humans to be used for rabbit hunting, which is now illegal. Domestication references go back as far as 450 BC. In the early 1800s, ferrets were brought to the United States to be used for rodent control on family

Salamone 2 farms. Ferrets have been dependant of people for so long, that they can no longer survive in the wild for more than a few days without human support. (American Ferret Association) When one adopts a ferret, there is a lot of responsibility involved that may change their normal schedule. There are a few things that need to be kept in mind when a ferret is running around the house. The term used is ferret-proof. First, you should remember to keep anything that may harm your ferret such as medications. It is a good idea to just keep the floor relatively clean, as ferrets have the tendency to chew on whatever they can fit in their mouths. Secondly, any areas that you dont want the ferret to go should be gated off. Plexiglas is ideal, because ferrets can squeeze their bodies through small holes and cracks. (American Ferret Association) Ferret cages can be home made or store-bought. Wire cages work best and are most common. Terrariums can be used, but they do not make for a very happy ferret, trapping in all odors and getting hot all the time. Terrariums are not usually a ferret lovers first choice and are avoided for the most part. A cage made or bought for a single ferret should be at least twelve inches wide, twenty-four inches long, and ten inches in height. There should be room enough to eat, sleep, and use the litter box all in separate areas of the cage. It is important to remember that ferrets are experts at escaping through any hole they can find, so the wires of its cage should not have wires that are spread too far apart. Ferrets do like to travel, which means its handy to keep a pet taxi around. (American Ferret Association) When a person own a ferret, it is important for that person to find a local veterinarian that has experience dealing with small exotic animals. Some veterinary clinics do not have the expertise to care for these animals, so it would be beneficial to know of one of these vets before adopting. This is an important part of ferret care. Some other important parts of ferret care are grooming, which includes brushing, combing, and bathing etc., cage cleaning, and feeding. If a

Salamone 3 female ferret is not spayed, she must breed every time she goes into heat or she will develop aplastic anemia. This is a fatal medical condition. (American Ferret Association) In a rare case, a ferret may get rabies. There was no vaccination for ferrets until 1992. A licensed vet should execute this vaccination annually. (Pet Education) A basic combination of brushing, combing, bathing, ear cleaning and dental hygiene is necessary to keep a ferret healthy and in tip-top shape. (Petco) A ferret should only be bathed once every four to six months, unless they have gotten into something messy that only a bath can fix. This is because of the oil secreted from the glands on their body that causes their odor. If scrubbed too much, the glands will begin to work harder and therefore, by secreting more oils, will create a heavier odor coming from the ferret. Clean teeth are an essential part of ferret care. One should always keep their ferrets teeth clean by rubbing them with ferret toothpaste that can be applied by a small cloth or, if the ferret allows it, a small pet toothbrush. (Petco) Brushing a ferret should be done daily for many reasons. It keeps their coat sleek and shiny and allows you to catch parasites or disease in the early stages so they can be stopped. Also, brushing away loose hair lowers the chance of intestinal blockage by hairball, which may result in a fatality. (Petco) A ferrets ears should be checked weekly for parasites and/or wax build-up. It is best for ears to be cleaned at least once a month. This helps get rid of dirt and wax build-up. (Petco) The claws of a ferret should be clipped whenever they get too long, but they should never be removed. This process would require removing a portion of the ferrets toe from the end. (American Ferret Association)

Salamone 4 Although ferrets can be trained to use a litter box, they often choose to mess in other places if they believe the box is full. It is important to keep a ferrets litter box as clean as possible. Also, it is a good idea to clean all food dishes, toys, and bed cloths at least once a week, to prevent illness. If the cage itself gets messy, it should be emptied and scrubbed down. (Petco) Ferrets are carnivores with a very strict diet that is made up mostly of animal protein with very few carbohydrates. Ferret diet foods can be bought in pet shops, but it is important to make sure that it has at least 36% protein. Ferrets should not be given foods with lots of carbohydrates or sugar. These cannot be digested by a ferrets system, and may result in intestinal problems and possibly cancer. Also, treats should be limited and not make up any more than 10% of a ferrets diet. (American Ferret Association) Most ferret treats that can be bought in stores are not healthy for ferrets. Even some that say they are designed specifically for ferrets. A ferrets treat should be meat based mostly. Some acceptable treats for ferrets are products like Gerber baby food. Three kinds of these are chicken, beef, and turkey. This should still only be given in small amounts. (American Ferret Association) Ferrets are highly social creatures. It is in a ferrets nature to be highly curious, which makes them naturally friendly. When introduced properly, and with the right supervision, ferrets can easily get along with children, other pets, friends, and just about anyone who they will see regularly. Dogs with a strong prey drive should not be introduced to ferrets. This would be highly problematic. Also, due to their carnivorous nature, ferrets should not be introduced to birds, rabbits, rodents, or reptiles, all of which are choice prey items. Also, babies are best kept separated from ferrets due to the fact that they would not be able to interact with each other properly. (Animal Network)

Salamone 5 All pets, including ferrets, can help us humans relax and focus our attention away from our problems and worries. Children often turn to their pets for comfort if, for example, a friend or family member dies or leaves. Adults are also found to have less depression if they have a pet when they lack a certain extent of human support. Pets can help ease the sense of loneliness or isolation that a person may feel. (Pet Education) You cant look at a sleeping cat and be tense. Jane Pauley Ferrets can play a special role in the lives of senior citizens as well as any other person. Whether they live at home or reside in a care facility or institute. (Pet Education) When adopting a ferret, it is important to remember that they should not be removed from their new home to go meet neighbors or friends for at least six to eight weeks. A ferret should spend this time getting comfortable in their new home, and with the others who inhabit it. Spending plenty of time with humans is a great way to get exercise and make new friends. After a while, you can train your ferret to a leash and harness, and take them out to play. Ferrets can also be trained to ride on their owners shoulders, where they can socialize with them while they walk. (Pet Education) There are many things that a person can train a ferret to do. Things as mentioned before, the leash and shoulder training, and other activities that can be fun to teach. The long hours required to train a ferret are a great way to bond and get to know one another on a deeper level. Ferrets sleep approximately eighteen hours out of the day, and will adjust their sleeping schedules to meet the owners daily routine. (American Ferret Association) Ferrets can make fun and loving pets, but they are illegal in some places. Whether or not this is fair is a matter of opinion. There are a wide range of reasons why ferrets are illegal, most of which involve ferrets getting loose and forming feral packs. Although this cant happen, it is

Salamone 6 still a thought in the back of everyones mind. Another reason is how ferrets like to explore the world by biting and nibbling on everything they find. Sometimes, they bite people just a little too hard. (NCBI) There is a dark side to ferrets, unfortunately. Ferrets can easily be trained in the same manner as dogs. There was a study of ferrets as opposed to dogs that was conducted. It describes an experiment performed with ferrets that tests their socio-cognitive potential. The final sum of the study shows that domestic ferrets act more dog-like than wild ferret-like. These findings also open the door for enlarging the scope of the domestication hypotheses. Ferrets can be trained to behave, but they can also be trained as misfits. Sometimes they may even just be born with a mean attitude. (NCBI) Some ferrets may nip or bite out of fear. Others may do it simply because they dont like the person or animal they are dealing with. This, of course, is socially unacceptable behavior. When handling ferrets one must always keep a sharp eye out for these furry outcasts, as they seem to cause a great deal of mishap. On January tenth in 2011, an incident occurred where an infant boy had his fingers chewed off by a corrupted ferret. The boys parents had woken up to the sound of screaming and saw their son covered in blood. The child was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition, and a frantic father killed the ferret. (Kansas City Star) Ferrets have been given many jobs through their years of domestication. Until the 1960s, Boeing aircraft manufacturers used them to carry cables to inaccessible places. They eventually gave this up because the ferrets would often fall asleep. In addition, the ferret was the first animal to be used to cultivate the human flu virus. In 1933, Wilson Smith injected two ferrets

Salamone 7 with the virus. A couple of days later a ferret sneezed into his face and he developed a cold, and they realized that the ferrets could pass on sicknesses. (InfoCloud) As mentioned previously, domestic ferrets were used as an aid in hunting rabbits in the middle Ages in Europe. In England, a 1390 law restricted ownership of ferrets to prevent rabbit poaching. Ferreting is used in the U.K. and other countries today, mainly for rabbit hunting and control. As a means of controlling local rabbit populations, instead of gassing, snaring, shooting, and releasing pathogens. Ferrets have also been used in killing rodents. (InfoCloud) If a ferret has been well handled and is of proper age, very little training is necessary to make fine ratters of them. - Harding (1915) Some people adopt ferrets as pets; others see them as a line of work and buy them for breeding. Depending on the photoperiod, jills should be sexually mature at four months of age. A hob will mature at around six to eight months. A jill can be bred throughout two consecutive days of the second week she is in heat. This is better for conception rate and litter size. The gestation period of a ferret is forty-two days. Any experienced veterinarian or ferret owner should be able to diagnose pregnancy approximately two weeks after breeding, by feeling for the developing kits (infant ferrets) in the jills abdomen. (Pet Education) If the photoperiod is right, a jill should return to heat within two weeks of weaning a litter. If the litter is small enough, the jill may come into heat while still nursing. Under natural light conditions, a jill can produce two litters a year. However, if kept in artificial light for at least fourteen hours a day, they can have here litters a year. If a jill is bred through every heat, the number of kits in a litter will end up becoming fewer and fewer until eventually, the jill fails to conceive. This will give her a rest between litters. (Pet Education)

Salamone 8 Kits weigh eight to ten grams at birth, and are small enough to fit into a teaspoon. They can triple their weight in ten days if the mother has a plentiful milk supply. A newborn kit will make a cheeping sound for attention and remain helpless for about three weeks. Their skin has a very pungent and bitter odor to discourage predators. (Pet Education) Kits are born with very fine white hair, and become furry with a long mane on the backs of their necks within days. The fur turns gray around five or six days of age, excepting those that will be albino or black-eyed whites. White markings will begin to distinguish themselves, but a ferrets color cannot be determined until it is just over three weeks of age. (Pet Education) The kits eyes and ears will remain sealed for more than four weeks, but they will have their first teeth by the time they are two weeks old. During the first three weeks of life, a wellnourished kit will spend most of its time sleeping or nursing. After the third week, they will begin to eat solid food, and will weigh around a hundred grams. They do, however, still depend on milk for survival. This will be about the time that a jill will peak in her lactation and begin to look very lean. (Pet Education) An endangered species of ferret, commonly known as the black-footed ferret, was reintroduced into the wild in the 90s. They became endangered around the 80s when farmers began killing off their main food source, which is prairie dogs. A suitable food resource for a wild ferret is around 100-150 acres of prairie dog colony. As the number of prairie dogs rapidly declined, wild black-footed ferrets began to disappear. All wild black-footed ferret colonies today are small, fragmented, and cared for intensively. (Wildearthguardians) Humans can create relationships with ferrets throughout the exquisitely complex series of ferret-to-human interaction. With all the necessities of a ferrets everyday life, and its dependency on humans, a bond can be created. Its these bonds that tie all pet lovers to each

Salamone 9 other, and their pets. When a person spends so much time focusing on a pet it is because they care, and caring is the base needed to create any relationship. Whether it is between a person and their parents, their children, or even their pet ferret. ~