Ferret keeping has been popular in the north of Britain for many years, largely due to their ability to be trained in hunting for food when food was scarce. Today they are mainly kept as pets. Local resident Tank Mills has been a friend to ferrets since the age of 13. We caught up with Tank recently to find out more about these beautiful animals.
Tank told COGNEWS that has trained his 6 pet ferrets to be friendly. He uses something called A Nip Training method, which involves holding them in one hand around the neck, and with the other gently holding their bottom jaw until they realise there is nothing to fear, and no need to bite. His ferrets are so well trained that his young granddaughter is able to play with them. In fact they are so well behaved that they can be taken out on a lead for a walk.
Many people keep them loose indoors but they do need to have some glands removed. The young pups are called kitts and the adults are jills and hobs. There are three types found in the U.K., Tank has all three types; the white from America, light brown from Wales, and the English dark brown. There is also a micro ferret.
Tank is a lover of dogs, sporting a racing whippet on his lap at the time of our meeting. He's involved in ferret rescue too, and has received ferrets that have been rescued by others, or have been unwanted. Ferrets are happy to all live together in the winter, but come the spring the jills and hobs have to be separated. The hobs can even attack each other, something a pet lover needs to avoid. Tank told us that has witnessed the birth of litters, and seen how the mother cares for the young, keeping them close to the nest.
Thank you Tank for sharing your lovely pets with Pet Pages.
Hunters as Pets - a peek at Ferret Keeping
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