History and General Information About Ferrets

• The domestic European ferret, mustela furo, is a member of the weasel family.
• It is closely related to polecats but is very different.
• Unlike the ploecat, it is calm and stable and enjoys the company of humans and other animals.
• Ferrets have been around for over 3,000 years in Europe.
• The First ferrets were brought to america over 300 years ago and were used for rodent control.
• The Black-Footed Ferret is the only "wild" species of ferret in existance in the United States of America.
• It is an endangered species and was just recently reintrodced back into the wild. The only problem is that they have no hunting instinct left in them.

• Ferrets come in a variety of colors with albino being the original ferret color.

• There are 4 distinctive colors of Ferrets.

1. Sable - has a distincitve racoon-like mask
2. Chocolate - Brown
3. Silver - White with Black Hairs and Black eyes
4. Cinnamon

• The 4 main patterns in Ferrets are:

1. Mitts - they have white feet
2. Panda - They have a white head
3. Badger - white Blaze
4. Siamese - they have dark legs and tail

• Male ferrets are known as hobs and range from 2-5 pounds
• Female ferrts are known as jills and are half the size of males.

• Ferrets are most active during morning and evening times and its favorite places are narrow spaces where it can rest when tired or hide when playing or hunting.