Let me just take a minute and answer the question What is a Ferret? While ferrets may look slightly rodent-like with their long, pointed snouts and ticklish whiskers, they are not rodents at all. Ferrets come from the Order Carnivora, which simply mean meat or flesh eating.This order encompasses a huge group of animals, from Fifi the common lap dog to the Mighty African lion. Ferrets are further broken down into the Family Mustelidae, which they proudly share with such bold critters as the badger, wolverine, pine martin, sea otter and skunk. Domesticated ferrets and ferret-like animals such as the weasel, European polecat, steppe polecat, black footed ferret, and mink. The word ferret is appropriately derived from the Latin word Furonem, which also means thief. Most ferrets owners will quickly come to realize just how thieving their new family members are. As cute as this endearing trait may be at times, it once took me over a day to find the contents of my entire purse, which I foolishly left open in the presence of roving ferrets. A lot of ferret owners call their ferrets a variety on nicknames. Such as furballs, fert, fuzzy, carpet sharks, snorkler, and fuzzbutt. The average lifespan of a well-cared for fuzzy is between 6 and 8 years,but i have heard many stories of ferrets living up to 11 to 12 years. At 1 year old, they are fully grown. At 4 to 5 years old, they are considered geriatrics. A typical ferret weighs between a mere 3/4 pounds to a whopping 2 1/2 pounds, and thats a big girl. Neutered males are normally 2 to 3 pounds, without the tail, females are between 13 to 14 inches long, and males are generally between 15 to 16 inches. The tail is 3-4 inches long. If you let them, a healthy ferret will sleep 18 to 20 hours a day. Does this make them nocturnel or diurnal? Neither. Ferrets , on the other hand, tend to be crepuscular, which means they usually come out at dusk and dawn, similar to the deer. However ferets change their activity levels to meet their humnans schedules. They look so angelic curled up in their ferrets sacks and hammocks and piled on each other. They look lazy and innocent in their dozing states, legs sprawled out on all sides or smooshed up under their bellies. Its a site to behold. The legs can propel the the ferret effortlessly across floors, counters, and table tops. Ferrets can do the tango and scoot backward while juggling a plastic ball or stuffed toy. Like human infants, their eyesight is poor, and their ability to distinguish color is limited. Ferrets do see some reds and blues. The most restricted ferret can and will find anything he was not intended to find, will steal it and bring it back to their favorite hiding place. His sense of smell is far superior to ours, and his little paw pads are sensitive to the touch. In a sense, all ferrets have sticky fingers: If they find it, it belongs to them. If they want it, its theirs. If they think its theirs, it is. You get the idea. A fuzzys sense of hearing is remarkable. If you open a bag of raisins from across the house, be assured your ferret will hear the bag opening and come a-begging.Have I mentioned that they have another sense? They seem to understand humans. Scary. Ferrets are interactive pets.If your looking for a pet to keep in a cage a ferret is not for you. Ferrets are exploratory characters who aim to please their humans. Okay, they aim to please themselves but tickle us pink in the process. They need a lot of exercise and attention to be happy.They live to play and the play to live, so if you cant be an interactive human, get your fuzzy a playmate. Besides, while one fuzzy is intensely amusing, two or more are downright hysterical. Ferrets are highly intelligent animals that need a lot of attention. In terms of owner interaction, they are high maintenance pets-if you want to keep them happy and healthy. They require at least two hours of playtime each day in a safe and stimulating environment. And thats the the answer to What is a ferret? 1Like · · Share Like · · Share Like · · Promote · Share
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:58:33 +0000
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