Another Weird Pet (Back Then)

 While David and I were newly married, my best friend showed up with a weird critter.  It was a ferret. 

While ferrets are common in pet stores these days, back in the 1970s they were practically unheard of. I thought it was so cool that I found one (I think Robyn, my friend, actually found it).  We named her Meshach.  She was very clever and active and fun.  And a few months later she disappeared in Robyn’s trailer house.  We thought she went through a small hole in the bathroom.  David made small holes in the bottom of the trailer, trying to find her.  We never did.  I cried for days.  I often wonder what happened. (Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Rhoton for the holes we left in the trailer – they probably didn’t help the insulation).

A while later, we found another ferret for sale.  I was glad that Monamie was darker since Meshach had been white.  When we found Shawnicey, it didn't matter that he was white.  He was so playful!

      

Monamie

Shawnicey playing with my parents' puppy.

 

And then the Sheriff’s office was called because a woman woke up at a truckstop with a strange ‘rat-like’ animal sitting on her chest.  She was totally freaked!!  At the time, I was a dispatcher for the Department of Public Safety (Highway Patrol) and someone at the Sheriff’s office knew I had ferrets.  They called, after the one they had found was quarantined and no one claimed him, and asked if I wanted him.  Umm, of course I did.  At first, Shawnicey and Monte 'argued' a little and I figured it was just to establish pecking order, so we thought it would all work out.  Later, they were very aggressive with each other, so they couldn't be let out at the same time, and we had to have separate cages for them.

Monte (found at a truck stop) at the Sheriff's office in Williams.
We took Monamie and Shawnicey in to see if they would get along.

We thought three ferrets were enough (especially since the boys didn't get along), but then we met  a poor little ferret that I am sure had brain damage.  She was sweet, but seemed totally out of it a lot of the time.  All of the other ferrets accepted her, so she came to our house to live. 



Bandite, the weird little ferret.

We tried breeding them, and had one litter.  None of the babies survived, and we didn't want to go through that again, so we had them all neutered and descented – no, they weren’t sold that way back then -- which improved their smell considerably, though not completely.   Ferrets have a built in defense system similar to a skunk's. They have a very unpleasant odor when they become frightened, though not as strong as a skunk's and it dissipates a lot with soap and water.  Even descented, and in the best of circumstances, ferrets have a musky odor.  Sometimes, with some perfumes or colognes, I think of ferrets.

Shawnicey getting a 'bath.'

Our ferrets were smart.  They knew that they had to use the litter box before they could be out in the house.  They were pretty good about using it anyway, but it was a requirement before they could leave the cage.  They liked attention and they were fun to watch. Ferrets, handled a lot, are friendly and playful.  They are curious and like to investigate everything!

 

 

 

We had the ferrets long enough that our oldest son played with them.  While I've heard of ferrets hurting children, ours were friendly and liked attention.  We were always with our son when he handled the ferrets and it is very important to spend a lot of time with ferrets or any other exotic animal pet.

Picking the ferret up.

Carrying him around.

Putting him away (notice Monamie at his feet).

Something that was interesting to me was that, while I had never heard of ferrets before and a lot of people who saw us out walking our little business (group of ferrets), both of my grandfathers had had ferrets when they were younger.  My paternal grandfather had passed away, but my grandmother told how he had used ferrets for hunting rabbits.  He sent the ferret into the hole to chase the rabbit out.  He and other hunters would be at other rabbit holes and bag the rabbit as it came out.  Sometimes the ferret would catch a rabbit, eat it, and fall asleep in the hole.  Then my grandfather would go back later to get it when the ferret would make its way out. Who knew?!?  My maternal grandfather didn’t actually own the ferret, but he told how they used it in a factory where he worked to keep the vermin down.  My grandparents were not particularly impressed that we had them as pets.

We had them for about 8 years – They moved from Arizona to Virginia with us.  Three of them passed away (two were not babies when we got them – they were longer lived than the ones people get now). One of the ones who passed away had a tumor (I still have the x-ray somewhere), and I guess that is common even today. One we gave to my veterinarian’s kids when we were moving into an apartment in a different state (Missouri) and couldn’t take him.

I've been asked why we don't have them now.  I was glad that I had ferrets.  Because people started breeding them when they first became popular, ferrets now have many more health problems than they did at first - breeders don't always worry about inbreeding, breeding even if their animal has defects, etc. Also, my daughter had them for a while as a teen, and even with handling, they weren't as responsive as our first ones were.  I don't know if that is breeding, or because there are so many that they don't get attention when they are very young.  So, no ferrets for now.

I liked the uniqueness of the ferrets.  Each had its own personality, like all animals, and they were interesting.  I liked taking them for short walks (they kind of went their own way and I followed along so I guess they actually took ME for walks).  While we lived in Virginia, I took them to the Science Center and did presentations with them -- the pros and cons of having them.  Plus, I don’t know if I would have heard the stories about my grandfathers if I had not gotten them.  That might have made it worth it in any case!

 

A side note:  In the photo album where I found the pictures, I wrote, "We have talked about starting a small zoo with many unusual pets."  David won't confirm that he thought that, but it is there is writing!