FERRETS THROUGH HISTORY

When the ferret was domesticated is unsure.  It was originally thought that the Egyptians domesticated the ferret in 3000bc, a hieroglyph that seemed to depict a ferret was found, but later was identified as a mongoose.  As ferrets do not tolerate heat, well it seems unlikely they originated in a hot country.  It was also believed that the ferret was mentioned in the bible, early translations translate the word ’Leviticus’ as ferret but later translations have put the word to mean lizard. 

It is more widely believed that the ferret was domesticated around 2500 years ago. Probably in the Mediterranean region of Greece. With growing agriculture and the storage of grain rodents became a problem so the polecat may have been domesticated as a way of rodent control.

Domestication timelines for other species -

Cats         - 4500 / 5000 years

Dogs        - 10,000 / 20,000 years

Rabbits    - 400 / 600 years

 

The Romans used ferrets to hunt rabbits about the time of Christ and it has been documented that the Romans brought ferrets to Britain in the 1st century. However ferrets weren’t properly recognised until the 11th century when the Normans brought them over originally for rodent control, but then used more for rabbit control

In the twelve century in Britain only noble born people were allowed to hunt rabbits for food. The punishment for poaching was severe and could mean transportation for the offenders. In the late 1800’s the rabbit population reached large numbers and the ‘ground game act’ was passed meaning that tenants living off the land were allowed to hunt rabbits. Professional

Rabbiters (warreners) were assigned on the large estates to control the rabbit population.

Through the ages various art work has featured ferrets.

  The ‘Ermine Portrait of Queen Elizabeth The First'

 A painting by Leonardo Da Vinci

His ‘Lady Ermine’

painted sometime around 1485 –1490

 From ‘The Book of the Hunt’ by Gaston Phoebus.

The book was written sometime between 1387 and 1391

The Ferreters Tapestry’ a fifteenth century tapestry from France.

Showing peasants hunting rabbits with nets and ferrets

It was probably in the early 17th century, when America was colonised, that ferrets were introduced to the USA. 

Ships sailing to America would have used ferrets as a means of rodent control, due to their small size they could negotiate the packed cargo holds getting into places that cats could not.  Although the use of ferrets for rodent control on ships was probably much earlier than the 18th century.  When the ‘Mary Rose’ was raised small boxes of dimensions to suit ferrets were found in the cargo holds.

Evidence of the ferret being used for rabbit control in America dates from 1875. The effectiveness of ferrets for rabbit control meant that working ferret breeding farms started and the use of ferrets was in demand.

In the mid 19th century, ferrets were bred for their fur this trade has now stopped but only as recently as the 1980’s.

From the 1960’s ferrets started being kept as pets although in some states it is still illegal to own pet ferrets!! Ferrets are still bred in great numbers for the pet trade and biomedical research.  Marshall Farms, started in 1940’s is one of the largest breeding farms today in America.

Ferrets were introduced to New Zealand in 1882 as a means of rabbit control, not as pets but as feral colonies. Since domesticated ferrets and European polecats were released, no one is sure whether the colonies are hybrids, polecats or feral domestic ferrets.

Where the domestic ferret is descended from could be a number of possibilities.

• European polecat
• Steppe polecat or black footed ferret
• an extinct form of Mustelid
• A hybrid of these.

Most people believe the ferret to be a descendant of the European polecat as the ferret can breed with the polecat and produce fertile offspring. This has yet to be scientifically proven.

In the 1700’s ferrets were described as being white or Fitch (polecat). Albinos were classed as the true ferret.  The original colour of the ferret would have been polecat, but probably due to inbreeding albinism occurred, this was a much-liked colour and bred into the ferrets. The Fitch colouring would present itself when ferrets were crossed back to polecats to increase hunting instinct.

In the late 1960’s keeping ferrets as pets started to become popular and in present times the range of colours is large, with sandy/ silver/ black eyed white and many more.  In Britain today the ferret is being increasingly recognised as a pet, the days are long gone when a ferret was fed bread and milk and kept at the bottom of the garden like a tool.

Working ferrets is still popular and a most humane form of rabbit control.  Although in 1973 ferreting nearly took a disastrous turn when myxymatosis was introduced into the rabbit population, it wiped out over 95% of wild rabbits. In the 1970’s the rabbit population started to increase and using ferrets for rabbit control was called for again.