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Ferret

Type: Mammal
Scientific Name: Mustela Putorius Furo
Diet: Carnivore
Average lifespan in captivity: 12 years
Lifestyle: Solitary
Size: Head and body, 15 to 20 in (38 to 50 cm); Tail, 4.25 to 5 in (11 to 13 cm)
Top Speed: 25km/h (15mph)
Group name: Business
Did you know? Ferrets are nocturnal, sleeping up to 21 hours per day and hunting prairie dogs primarily during the night.

The ferret is a domestic animal thought to be native to Europe. The ferret is thought to be a subspecies of polecat and the ferret has the same long shaped body as a polecat and a weasel.

Ferret video.

What does a Ferret look like?
There are two basic colors of ferrets: sable and albino. Albino ferrets have pure white fur and pink eyes. Ferrets have a long and slender body covered with brown, black, white, or mixed fur. Average length is 20 inches including a 5 inch tail. They weigh 1.5 to 4 pounds with males substantially larger than females.

Where does the Ferret live?
Ferrets live in pasture, rough grassland and scrubland, and on the fringes of forests.

What does a Ferret eat?
Ferrets primarily prey on rabbits, but they also eat hares, possums, birds, eggs, lizards, hedgehogs, frogs, eels and various invertebrates. Ferret diet varies with season and food availability, and male ferrets eat more rabbits than do females. When rabbit numbers are lowered with a control programme, ferrets are capable of changing their diet to other species.

What is special about the Ferret?
The ferret is thought to have been domesticated around 2,500 years ago, which is roughly the same time that a number of animals such as the donkey and goat were put to domestic use. The ferret is used to help farmers hunt out rabbits and the ferret does this by crawling into the rabbit burrows, with the ferret using its incredibly shaped flexible body to its advantage as a ferret is often small than many rabbits. The rabbit is scared out of the burrow by the invading ferret and uses one of the many burrow exits to get away from the ferret intruder.