- A group of ferrets is called a business.
- Male ferrets are called hobs if they are intact and gibs if they are neutered.
- Female ferrets are called jills if they are intact and sprites if they are spayed.
- A baby ferret is called a kit.
- Ferrets were used to run cables at Buckingham Palace for the wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles in 1981.
- A team of ferrets named Beckham, Posh, and Baby laid the TV, lighting, and sound cables under the stage for the millennium concert in Greenwich Park.
- Until the 1980’s, Boeing used ferrets to carry cables to inaccessible areas. Their role was cut short because they often gave up or fell asleep on the job!
- Jills can die if they don’t have sex while they’re in heat. If they don’t become pregnant, they will stay in heat, building up too much estrogen. The estrogen buildup causes aplastic anemia because their bone marrow stops producing red blood cells.
- Ferret-legging is an old pub sport where people tied their pants shut with ferrets inside. Whoever kept the ferrets in their pants for the longest was the winner. The world record is over 5 hours.
- Queen Elizabeth I kept a pet ferret that can be seen in her official portrait.
- The word ferret is derived from the Latin furittus, which means “little thief.”
- Ferrets have poor vision but make up for it with a superb sense of smell.
- Newborn ferrets can fit inside of a teaspoon.
- Ferrets cannot sweat, which is why they must live in a cooler environment.
- A female ferret can have over 160 babies over her lifetime.
- Ferrets are obligate carnivores, meaning they can only eat meat.
- Ferrets can spend up to 18 hours a day sleeping.
- Ferrets are crepuscular, meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk. Their vision is best in the low light at these times of day.
- If a ferret’s head can fit through an opening, so can their whole body!
- Ferrets are one of very few pets that can share diseases with humans, including influenza.
- Ferrets are used to develop the yearly flu vaccine.
- A British superstition holds that if you drink milk that a ferret has drunk from, you will be cured of whooping cough.
- An Irish superstition holds that milk that a ferret has drunk from is blessed.
- The average lifespan of a ferret is 5–8 years.
- Female ferrets can be half the size of male ferrets.
- Ferrets reach sexual maturity at only 4–8 months of age!
- All ferrets are born with white fur. They don’t start to get their adult colors until they are 3 weeks old.
- Baby ferrets are born deaf and blind. They start to see and hear when they are about a 35 days old.
- Ferrets are part of the Mustelidae family, along with badgers, otters, weasels, mink, and wolverines.
