New addition to our family

[hfarley]

I would like to introduce everyone to the newest additon to our family. Lucy Farley aka Lucie Goosie/Lucifer. She is a 6-8 week old ferret. She and our other ferret Bud who is 7 years old are getting along just fine.



-Heather

[h2olawyer]

 :D ;D :D  AWWWWWWWWW  How Cute!   ;D :D ;D

Congrats on the new addition to your family & thanks for the baby picture.

H₂O

[glennw]

Do they ride with you in the saddle bags?
GlennW

[Serendipity]

I can't see picture!!!! I wanna seeeeee!

Congrats on the new addition! I love them little things, but if I tried to bring home another pet Tailwheel would beat me.

[Brian Moffet]

Try here:  http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7925/948/1600/Lucy%20sleeping.jpg

It's cute, though it looks like it's having a bad dream :)

And did you know that ferrets are amazingly dangerous creatures, threatening to over-run the local wildlife (which is why they are illegal as pets in California.)

Brian

[hfarley]

Vision Rising, Without going into to much detail you are very misinformed. Ferrets are 100% domestic creatures.

Domestic pet ferrets, Mustela furo (sometimes called Mustela putorius furo), are not wild animals. They have been domesticated for a very long time, perhaps two or three thousand years. They're not equipped to survive for very long on their own; escaped pets suffer from dehydration, starvation and exposure, and usually don't survive more than a few days unless someone takes them in. Unlike cats and dogs, ferrets aren't even large enough to push over garbage cans and scavenge.

Domestic ferrets are generally believed to be descended from the European polecat; they were originally used as hunting animals to catch rabbits and rodents. They weren't supposed to kill the prey, they just chased them out of their holes and the farmers (hunters) killed them. This practice is now illegal in the U.S. and Canada, but it's still fairly popular in the U.K. and some other places.


I could go on but I won't. Please ask me as many questions as you like about ferrets so that you can become better informed on the subject.I am always happy to teach someone that all the rumors and preducices against ferrets are not necessarily true. They are very similar to cats and just like any pet they reflect on what their owner has taught them. So in any pet there will be mean ones and nice ones. Again please ask me any questions that you might have I am more than willing to answer.
-Heather

[hfarley]

Serendipity, if you let me know what type of picture you can receive I will send you one.

Glennw- LOL! If I had Saddlebags I might just have to take them out for a spin. Now where can I get goggles to fit a ferret???? (I already have the bomber jacket. LOL!


H2O- Thanks! Her Daddy is already wrapped around her little paw. She has taught him that she is adorable no matter what she does. LOL!

BTW- 6-8 weeks old and already litterboxed trained. LOL! Am I good or what?  ;)

[hfarley]

Vision Rising, I have pasted below a copy of an explanation of why they are considered illegal in some states. I hope this helps you to understand.
-Heather

A "ferret-free zone," or FFZ, is a place where ferrets are banned or illegal. In some other places, ferret owners are required to have licenses or permits. States, counties, and municipalities outlaw or restrict ferrets for a variety of reasons, pretty much all invalid, but I'd say that the fundamental problem is that many people don't understand what a pet ferret is.

What are some of those invalid reasons, you ask? Well, a common one is that ferrets are seen as wild animals like raccoons or skunks, rather than a domestic species like housecats. Of course, ferrets have been domesticated for at least 2500 years. Another popular misconception is that ferrets pose a serious rabies danger; in fact, studies have indicated that it's very hard for a ferret to catch rabies, and when one does, it dies very quickly, so the danger is very small indeed. Besides, there's a ferret rabies vaccine which has been shown to be effective. A third common reason for banning ferrets is the idea that escaped pets (nearly all of which are spayed or neutered) will form feral packs and threaten livestock or native wildlife. There are no confirmed cases of feral ferrets (as opposed to polecats or polecat-ferret crosses, for instance) in the U.S., and a few deliberate attempts to introduce domestic ferrets to the wild have failed miserably, so this, too, is an unfounded fear -- even if one could picture a ferret harming a cow or breaking into a commercial poultry farm.

The only states which now ban ferrets are California and Hawaii. In the face of overwhelming evidence, many areas are being persuaded to change their outdated regulations.

[Brian Moffet]

Actually, I should have mentioned that I am completely aware of the problems with the California law.  My posting was me being ironic, which doesn't always show through.

Personally, I don't support the law, and as you mention in your last post, the law makes no sense.

Brian

[Night Vision]

wow, I all I knew about ferrets before was they left a pretty nasty oil slick on the neighbor's carpet when they repeatedly slid and hid under his furniture.

[hfarley]

LOL! Sorry Vision Rising! I hope I diodn't come across to nasty. I wasn't trying to be. I just wish people (not you) would get more informed about ferrets. I get it all the time when walking my ferrets or when I take them into Petsmart or something. There is always one person that says to me "eww don't they smell?" or "I heard they bite really bad"

Well I have to inform them that they only smell when you wash them too much. LOL! The oils in their skin end up working overtime when they are overly washed thus producing the smell. Also if they are not fixed they can poof and that sure stinks! As far as biting is concerned all it takes is a little patience and perserverence to teach them that it is not ok to bite. My new one Lucy hasn't quite learned that yet (as my right eyelid can attest to lol!)

Believe it or not after spending a few mintes with my ferrets at the store or wherever most people change their views on ferrets. After all who can't fall in love with my cute, cuddly, not spoiled at all ferrets. LOL! Take no offense Vision Rising I wasn't lashing out, I just felt that maybe you weren't informed. Now I know that you are and that you are on my side. And even though the law doesn't allow them in California there are a lot of people that stil own them. Did you know that ferrets are the third most popular pet after dogs and cats? Yup they are! I wil post another picture of my little Lucy with Bud and you will see how well they get along. LOL!
-Heather

[hfarley]

Here are my two Kiddies! They can also be seen at my blog: http://1982yamahavision.blogspot.com/

[Brian Moffet]

I had a cat once that would probably bite much harder than your ferrets.  ;D

He was diagnosed with chronic renal failure at age 15.  The vet was having a hard time getting a blood sample from him after we had started a treatment, because he would bite and pull back from her.  She finally had to sedate him to get the blood sample.  Turns out, when we brought him in next time (I think it was a week later) she said that his BUN levels were 3 times higher than they should have been.  She looked at him and said "You should have been unconcious already!". 

He hissed at her :)

He lived for 3 more years while we treated him for CRF, finally dying when he was 18 years old.  Until the end, the vet could not get near him...


Brian

[Serendipity]

Now I can see her!!! How adorable!!! And don't worry HFarley you didn't sound nasty at all in your post, just somebody who has feels passionately about something and has done her research.

Can't say I know much about the dangers of potentially feral ferrets (there's a good name for a rock band), but I think logic would dictate that if you are going to ban pet ferrets for fear of what they could do if they got "out" cats ought to be banned too....and you know that would never happen.

Btw, I am a cat lover and I do allow my cats outside, but I'd being lying to you if I said I didn't know how they adversely affect the local bird/rodent populations. They really shouldn't "in theory" be let outside but I know they are happier that way...and well that's my one "bad" as a normally very environmentally friendly person.

The cats do indeed help with the rodents around the house, but two BIG wild corn snakes take care of the barn. I purposely leave an extra egg (my hen lays) every week 'cause they like them and keeps them in the barn. I threatened to move the snakes into the house when we were having a rodent issue awhile back but Tailwheel wasn't crazy about the idea for some reason.

Patti

[kiawrench]

Heather,
    We had ferrets as pets, when stationed in germany, bought them from a vet there. Seems the germans were using them to help with wild rabbit population. the ferrets they have are quite a bit bigger than the ones we can buy here.
 

if you have ever wondered what a trained hunter ferret looks like, imagine a regular ferret, pumped up to over 9 lbs, wearing a small dog's basket harness- then he would be attached to a long cord ,with several bells on it . the huntsman then releases the ferret to find a rabbit burrow, and once inside, the handler listens to the bells,  when he no longer hears the bells, he just pulls the cord, bringing the ferret ,and sometimes, the rabbit back out . they said it helps to let the ferret kill a rabbit or three per year to keep them sharp,, but i never took mine out to see if he could do it . too much of a house pet.

i have a regular photo of the male we had,, will have to dig it up, scan it in and send you a pic. he is bigger than most house cats, about 9.5 lbs when we had to return him to the vet before coming back to the states. they were glad to see him, said he was going to make a prime hunter, well worth his weight .

[Mutt]

BTW- 6-8 weeks old and already litterboxed trained. LOL! Am I good or what?  ;)

Congratulations on being litter box trained! You are good!  :D

I see he's doing what ferrets do so good.....sleeeeeep. My niece has one and it's really old. It's so old it's hair is falling out. It still acts frisky though.

Mutt

[hfarley]

Mr Bud, my 7 year olf ferret has basically hardly any hair left. He has Adrenal disease and because of that his hair fell out. Doesn't mean that I don't still love him to pieces. He also has cataracts in both eyes and probably can't see as well any more. I just tell him that he has an old man butt now, all wrinkly and saggy but he still gets lots of kisses and scritches from his mommie. Boy he has me trained so well. LOL!  You should hear Lucy in the mornings. I go to let her out of her cage and boty is she vocal! Its like I had her locked up forever and she must get out because she has important things to do. Bud on the other hand takes one look at me as if to say don't wake me up until it is time for my morning "soup" and then curls right back up and goes to slepp. BTW Lucy's important business is usually following me around the house for the rest of the morning. LOL!