ChrissyD

Yeah I have a Ferret, his name is Fergus lol. He is a riot and adorable.







Fergus in his cage with Gus...

Lucy

How cute!

My husband (b/f at the time) had a ferret. The ferret and my dog were best buds!

Betta_dude

What a cutie. I love ferrets, no matter how much trouble they get into.

Wilhelm Joshua Tan

What do you feed your ferret? In one species, they eat a rodent called pararie dog.

sirdarksol

Such a cute little guy. I love ferrets.

That would be the black-footed ferret, which is almost completely extinct in the wild, largely because the prairie dog was driven out of the territory the ferrets live in. Many years ago, both critters were native to the state I live in.

Betta_dude

Most don't think BFFs are related to pet ferrets. Its thought they're related to european pole cats cause they an inter-breed, like wolves and dogs can.

sirdarksol

Sort of. Black footed ferrets and domesticated ferrets are known to be related (they are both members of the Mustelidae family, in other words, weasels). Both are closely related to Polecats. The black-footed is considered to be closest to the Steppe Polecat (Russian), while there are questions about whether the domesticated is a domesticated version of the European or the Steppe Polecat.

To bring this topic back around full-circle, this means that ChrissyD's little pipe-cleaner and the North American black-footed ferret potentially share the same ancestor in the Steppe Polecat, though this ancestry goes back at least two and a half millenia.
They're all really cute critters, and they've got such great personality. Even the wild ones are neat to watch as they explore their surroundings.

Betta_dude

Shame on me, I did a report on them for school on BFFs. I should have known that.

Martinismommy

I absolutely LOVE Ferrets! If Anberling (my Granddaughter) hadn't moved out I'd have one now...She had been begging me to buy her one and I had been researching breeders.....

Very cute!

sirdarksol

Don't worry too much. I spend a lot of time at zoos, reading about animals, etc..., and I still learn new things all the time.

Wilhelm Joshua Tan

ha?

Wilhelm Joshua Tan

They are endangered because pesticide from the farmers are killing the prairie dog and the ferret has no food.