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Fairly odd parents time out cage12/9/2023 ![]() ![]() This ferret domestication timeline brings us to the present day, but the precise parent species of the domestic ferret remains uncertain. The last half of the twentieth century also saw the domestic ferret grow in popularity as a laboratory and research animal. This resulted in additional physical and behavioral changes as ferrets were bred for greater docility, decreased odor, preferred body confirmation, coat color, and failure to thrive in the wild. Only recently has fur production fallen out of favor in much of the world.įerrets have been kept as companions by historical figures such as Genghis Khan and Queen Elizabeth I however, their popularity as pets did not increase until the late 1960s. 37 In the mid nineteenth century ferrets were bred for their fur, a practice that continued late into the twentieth century. It is believed ferrets were brought to the United States in the late eighteenth century and used to control shipboard vermin on long, transatlantic crossings. The sport of ferreting is still practiced by many people in Europe and Australia but is outlawed in the United States and Canada. ![]() With time the instinct to hunt and kill was bred out of the ferret. To discourage prey capture, working ferrets sometimes were harnessed with string, had bells attached to their collars, or were muzzled. Ferrets that caught and ate the rabbits not only would destroy the food source and pelt but also would be more difficult to retrieve from the rabbit burrow. The goal was to chase prey, not capture it. Ferrets with a strong scent would make better ferreters and therefore were bred. This may also explain the ferret's musky body odor. The fleeing rabbit would then be caught in nets or by dogs or hawks used by the hunters. The sport of ferreting (hunting for rabbits) resulted in further domestication, as the ferret did not catch its prey but chased or frightened the rabbit out of its hole with its strong musky smell. Many historians believe that eleventh-century Normans introduced ferrets to Britain, where they were used to chase rabbits out of burrows. Strabo (63 BC–24 AD), a Greek historian, philosopher, and geographer, reported that the Romans used ferrets to control the overpopulation of rabbits on the Balearic Islands: “The ferrets with their claws drag outside all the rabbits they catch, or else force them to flee into the open, where men, stationed at the hole, catch them as they are driven out.” 43 By the Middle Ages, man was ferreting rabbits throughout Europe and Asia ( Figure 4-1 The efficiency with which the ferret hunts rabbits brought it into favor with people. One theory suggests the Greeks domesticated the indigenous European polecat (Mustela putorius) in order to protect grain stores from rodent infestation much in the way the Egyptians domesticated the cat.Ĭompletely carnivorous, the polecat (ferret) will take a wide variety of prey, including hares, rabbits, mice, voles, and rats. These early written accounts coincide with the time (circa 300 BC) when agriculture began to take hold in the civilized regions of the northern Mediterranean region centered around present-day Greece. Soon thereafter, in 350 BC, the Greek philosopher and naturalist Aristotle (384-322 BC) also made written reference in a treatise on animals and physiognomy to a polecat that “resembles a weasel and becomes very mild and tame.” 43 It is reasonable to suppose he was referring to the ferret, and the demeanor of the animal described implies a close association with people. The earliest written account of an animal that fits the description of our domesticated ferret dates back to the Greek satiric writer Aristophanes (448-385 BC), who used the term “house ferret” in several of his plays to satirize political opponents. Ferrets were in all probability originally used by man to control vermin. Animals are domesticated for work, food, or materials for clothing and shelter. With time, domestication results in physical and physiologic changes from the ancestral species. 43ĭomestication is the process by which human selection and control of breeding results in an animal that provides a service or product that is beneficial to humans. Vernacular names for the animal we presume to be the ferret frequently varied from geographic district to district, and ancient scientists may have added to the confusion with incorrect translations from one language to another. This is in part because of the scarcity of written records from 2000 years ago and because of difficulties in identification of which species was actually being domesticated. The question as to why ferrets were domesticated may be more easily answered than when the domestication process took place and from what molecular phylogeny. ![]()
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