Ferret Day

What the day is

Ferret Day is observed on April 2, marking a domesticated animal that has been working for people for more than two thousand years.

Origin and background

Ferrets are domesticated polecats, and unlike most pets they were domesticated for a single specific task: going down burrows. A ferret sent into a warren drives rabbits out into waiting nets, which is a practical way to hunt where dogs cannot follow and a gun is no use. The practice is ancient, and it is where the verb comes from. To ferret something out is to do precisely what the animal was bred for.

That talent found a modern application. Ferrets have been used to run lines through long, narrow conduits no person could reach, trailing a cord behind them so that cable can be drawn through afterward. They have done this for broadcasters laying cable and for scientific facilities cleaning long runs of pipe.

Their biology sets the terms for keeping them. Ferrets are obligate carnivores with a very short digestive tract, and food passes through in a matter of hours rather than most of a day, so they must eat little and often and cannot be fed on a dog's schedule or a dog's diet. They are also prone to particular illnesses, especially of the adrenal gland and the pancreas, and anyone taking one on should know what those look like and roughly what treatment costs.

They sleep for most of the day and are intensely busy in the gaps, and the bouncing sideways hop of an excited ferret is a play signal rather than a sign of distress.

They are illegal to keep in some places, including California and New York City, on grounds of escape risk and possible harm to native wildlife.

How to take part

• Check whether ferrets are legal where you live before anything else.
• Feed a proper carnivore diet, in small amounts and often.
• Ferret-proof the room. They fit through gaps you would not believe.
• Keep at least two, since they are social animals.
• Budget for veterinary care, which is more likely than with a cat.