Dangerous pest or playful pet?

Ferrets, also known as the Mustela putorius furo, are carnivorous animals sharing a genus with animals such as the weasels or otters. They are distinguishable by their long slender bodies and black and white coloring, and on April 2, we celebrate these beautiful creatures on National Ferret Day.

History suggests that ferrets were domesticated as hunters. Being natural predators, they excelled in hunting down small animals such as rabbits. This is why New Zealand farmers initially trained and kept ferrets as pets.

As varmints, they were often a big threat to the crop population. Domesticating and training them was a pretty clever solution by farmers, as it was a solution that provided for the meat-eating ferrets and insurance for crops for the farmers.

Now that we have modern protection for our crops, ferrets have retired from their work as hunters. They now adopt the mantle of common house pets, described as social and lively. While it is illegal to own a ferret in California unless you have a permit, it is a considerable pet to recommend to your friends out of state (houselaw.com).

Not being able to own a ferret as a pet is not a major loss, however, since we can still appreciate ferrets as wild animals that keep pesky rodents away. Aside from hunting, they also prove helpful for many medical advances. They are a key asset in research for many respiratory diseases such as influenza or COVID-19. One group of researchers has used ferrets to test a nose spray that would help block transmissions of the virus, and that test has proven to be a success (news.cornell.edu). And this is just one example of how valuable ferrets are to the medical field.

Reasons like these are why we celebrate National Ferret Day on April 2. Beyond this, there are many more interesting facts to learn about ferrets, like how males are called hobs and females are named jills.

To celebrate National Ferret Day, you could talk with a friend about ferrets or support a fundraiser for endangered Black-Footed Ferrets (Worldwildlife.org).