Webmaster Andy Binnie-Douglas

© Cumbria Ferret Rescue 2010

Cumbria Ferret Rescue

AKA Lakes and Borders Ferret Welfare & Rescue

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Karen, Andy & Vikki’s Ferret Adventure

The beginning

It all started back in 2008 when our daughter, Vikki (then 17), decided to get a ferret as a pet. She had been attending show’s, helping with ferret racing & roulette etc with Trish who runs the Kendal branch of the Lakes & Borders Ferret Welfare and Rescue.

 

After much discussion and attempts to make her understand that she needed to be responsible for it, our first family ferret, Mischief arrived.

 

He was a beautiful full hob, albino, about a year old, and when Vikki walked through the front room door - BOY what a stink! He nearly went back where he came from there and then, but Trish had assured Vikki that the smell would quickly fade when we got him castrated (a condition of re-homing).

 

So he took up residence in the shiny new hutch she had bought for him out in the back garden. Within a week, he had been ‘seen to’ by the vet and Trish was proved right - the smell rapidly disappeared.

 

It was not long before he endeared himself to everyone in the family, his playfulness and curiosity about everything and anything knew no bounds.

 

Then there was two

After some months, we were thinking that he really needed a companion to play with. Purely by chance we went to a local agricultural show at Crooklands and came across a stall run by Helen & Gwen of Halfway House, a ferret rescue located near Lancaster. Helen told us she had a couple of hobs which she thought might make good companions, so next week off we went to Lancaster with Mischief in his carry box. We watched with interest as he met the two prospective friends in a play pen, and it was clear that he really liked the small sandy hob best.

 

So it came to pass that Mayhem entered our lives. He is the most adorable and laid back ferret we have met so far, with a love of hoarding things - especially slippers! It is the most amusing thing in the world to see Mayhem expertly removing the slipper off you feet while watching telly, then it disappearing gradually beneath the TV cabinet, tugged by a very determined Mayhem.

 

Shortly after Mayhem arrived, we decided that their accommodation needed an upgrade, so after raising the hutch on stilts, a shelf was installed, surrounded by welded wire mesh, and a ramp up to the main hutch added - to make this a two storey residence. This was greeted with much pleasure by the boys, who romped up and down the ramp like maniacs.

 

Bitten by the bug

As we had heard that it is better to have three or more ferrets rather than a pair, we enquired round about for a silver hob. Helen at Lancaster had one she thought would be right for us, so we had another trip down and Nicodemus joined the family. I have to say naming him was a particularly difficult job, we literally went through thousands of possible names - before Vikki decided on his biblical name! We soon found out that he really should have been called Tigger as he jumps about constantly. We did make the mistake of giving him a bath shortly after he arrived home, this stressed him a bit and he sunk his teeth into Karen’s finger.

 

Meanwhile we had attended one or two more shows and gained experience dealing with Nicodemus and his nipping - Andy designed and made a ‘Ferret Jail’ or ‘Naughty Box’ where he spent a minute or two immediately after nipping or mouthing. As ferrets don’t like being left out, he soon got the message and became completely bite free.

 

We decided that five is a nice number (note the ferret maths creeping in!) and planned to expand our business (of ferrets) further. This meant that the hutch was once again being outgrown, so Andy planned and built a pair of 5x5 foot pens with the help of Trish.

 

No sooner had the boys moved in when Trish received Jay and Silent Bob to be re-homed. We immediately took to the guys and moved them into the hutch pending introductions. Unfortunately Bob did not survive long enough for this to occur (see memorial pages) so Jay joined the gang solo, quickly establishing himself as the joker of the group.

 

Our Role Develops

We had got a lot of satisfaction in a job well done over re-habilitating Nicodemus, so decided that a good way for us to contribute to the group would be to re-hab and socialise problem ferrets before they were re-homed. Trish had a polecat who needed a home, and as we did not have a poly in our gang, decided to give him a go.

 

He was very skittish, and when Andy tried to pick him up he earned the (temporary) name of ‘Vlad the Impaler’ or ‘Holy Poly’ as he put 38 holes in Andy’s fingers in about three seconds. Realising that he was acting though fear and nervousness and also that he did not behave this way towards women, Andy spent the next few days talking to Boris (as he was renamed) but not attempting to touch him. Eventually trust built up as Boris came to Andy and received the love he needed.

 

Boris was now settling in well, but unfortunately had some set backs and severely bit Andy’s hand again, then Tom’s (our son) face. As we had other pressures in life at this time (with Karen just out of hospital) meaning we could not give him the time and attention he needs, he went to live with Trish, where he found a real social partner in Echo. Since then both Boris and Echo have up sticks and moved to Bristol with Maria and Kelly who specialise in ‘biters’. We miss them but are pleased that they are happy there.

 

An opportunity came up with some sandy kits that Helen (Lancaster) had received, Trish took five on, and we have adopted one of those - a sandy hob. He was a bit underweight as he had been beaten to the food by his brothers and sisters, so has been feeding on a high protein & fat diet - gaining an average of an ounce a day since we got him. He is very spirited and enjoys playing with the boys - sometimes getting pounced on for his trouble! He has now got his name thanks to the competition we ran at Pets@Home - ‘Foggarty’. Thanks to Christine Davidson of Kendal for her suggestion.

 

Foggarty has grown into a lovely big sandy hob, very strong and well muscled. He has also settled down a lot and has started gaining experience as a PR ferret, though still mouths too much to be trusted yet with non-experienced people. He has also developed the nickname ‘Eddie’.

 

At last - Jills!

Our latest additions are Truly and Scrumptious (formerly Lumpy and Scrumpy) who are polecat/sandy jills. Truly (Lumpy) was so named because she has a lump on her neck which is in-operable - we adopted her because she cannot be re-homed due of this. The lump seems to come and go but does not bother her in any way, so as long as she is happy she has a home with us. Scrumptious is Truly’s sister (we think) and have been together since we received them - we did not want to separate them so she has been adopted too. They both are most loveable and cuddly, Scrumptious gives great ferret kisses.