Do ferrets make good ratters?
Dear FerretLady:
I have a few questions for you regarding ferrets!
First question: Are they good for ratting in an industrial warehouse or barn
situation? Would they act as a barn cat would?
Second question: If they were to rat,
would we be able to litter train them so that they would
still use a litter box even if they were loose? (i.e. go
back to the litterbox to go rather than just where ever
they happen to be when nature calls)
Third (and final) question: Is there a
preferred way to get the ferret, after ratting, to
return to their cage?
Thank you!
Lilly
Dear Lilly:
Ferrets have been known to be good ratters INSIDE a house or contained space. Cats are better ratters, though.
The most important thing is that you cannot let ferrets loose outside, or in a
space where they can get out, like a barn. Ferrets can wiggle through very
small holes that you might never realize they could get through. And they can
dig! So any space with a dirt floor will not hold them.
Also, ferrets will not stay close to your home or barn. Maybe they will for a
few minutes or even an hour. But eventually, they will wander off to explore. And with almost absolute certainty, they will be killed by a possum,
raccoon, hawk, owl or some other wildlife, or possibly even by a pet dog that is
not familiar with ferrets. Ferrets do not have
homing instincts like cats and dogs. You cannot use them as service animals.*
They really can only be kept as indoor pets.
Even if the space to be de-ratted is an
enclosed industrial warehouse, with no holes or openings
to the outside or to the ventilation ductwork
(unlikely), you would probably never be able to
completely ferret-proof the space. Ferrets may
chew on wires or boxes or tear up anything just for fun.
If they find white styrofoam packing peanuts anywhere,
then the next day, you will find packing peanuts
everywhere.
And they like to "steal" and hide
things. Keys, jewelry, socks or almost any small objects lying around
are candidates for ferret theft.
They might be more interested in stealing and hiding
some inanimate shiny object than in chasing live rats.
Leave little things like that out for an uncaged ferret,
and the next day they may not be there, taken to a hiding place the ferret sought
out to store its new-found treasure.
Ferrets can be litter trained to some degree, however, they will often poop in any
available corner, especially if they have wandered far from the litter box.
So ferrets as pets is really the only option for all of
us except professional animal trainers who employ
ferrets in the film industry.
As for housing, it is best to keep ferrets in a large cage to give them
plenty of space, like the one shown
here. Or you can keep them
in a small room that has been ferret-proofed.
If keeping them in a cage, you should let them out at least once a day into a
larger, contained, ferret-proofed space (like a bathroom) to play with them.
They need interaction with people and other ferrets, which is why people often
get two ferrets rather than just one because just one by itself will often get
lonely. Ferrets as pets are higher maintenance
than cats and dogs - they cannot fend for themselves outside and they need as
much or more attention than pet cats and dogs.
Best advice for ratting
- get a cat. Or several cats. Or mousetraps.
However...and this is very important...
You should not get a cat or ferret or any other animal unless you really are
willing to make it part of the family. This is like taking on a child
- a child that will never
grow up and go out on its own, by the way. Cats,
dogs, ferrets, parrots and many other domesticated
animals people take in as pets are highly intelligent
creatures and need companionship. Your new family
member will need affection, attention, medical care and
lots of food over its lifetime. This will run into
some serious money over the 10 to 20 years of its
lifetime. Year over year, mousetraps are going to be cheaper than
service animals.
Best,
The Ferretlady
* Service Animals refers to seeing-eye
dogs, shepherding dogs, mules and horses used to pull
carriages, etc. - animals
that have been trained to perform services for humans.
As far as using ferrets as service
animals, I have heard that ferrets
have been used to help workmen run wire through cable
pipes because ferrets like to crawl through tubes, but I
do not know if this is true. There was an
article on a U.K. newspaper website
about this in 2010, since proved a hoax for April Fool's
Day.
Send letters
to The FerretLady at FerretLady@FerretCity.com.
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