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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Mar 4, 2018 9:57:07 GMT -5
If ferrets have such a bed judgement, how can they survive in a wild? Read more: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/24176/stop-fuzzy-stashing-meat?page=1#ixzz58nAQhmU8In the wild,they are certainly not jumping off tall beds and kitchen countertops and computer desks;)) I have had to tape my bottom kitchen cabinets closed as I have one who will climb the back of drawers to get on countertops. Beside the height, there's the hot coffemaker and glasstop stove that stays hot for a while at my house. In the wild ferrets are most active at dawn and twilight and stay hidden and sleep alot during the day (crepuscular). So that is a good safety feature.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 4, 2018 10:55:21 GMT -5
Olenka- they DON'T survive in the wild. The only reason there are a couple colonies of feral "ferrets" in Scotland and New Zealand are because some of those intact ferrets got out and bred with existing polecats, creating hybrids. Meaning that while some ferret traits such as colouring may have passed down, eyesight and other means of survival came from the polecats. Those feral who DIDN'T develop this didn't survive.
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Post by olenka on Mar 5, 2018 11:50:43 GMT -5
Sherry, are you saying that polecats have decent vision? And ferrets lost that ability during domestication process?
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Post by crazylady on Mar 5, 2018 14:48:46 GMT -5
Hi no all ferrets hybrid/polecat albino what ever the color do not have great vision they see the world in a hazy of grey why would they need perfect vision ? in the wild the live and work underground hunting for prey ( rabbits rats etc ) they dont climb trees they may come across eggs from ground laying birds but dont climb trees for them I have worked ferrets they may not see in the darkness but are super sensitive to sound and vibration and can chase out rabbits at the drop of a hat the only thing that has not been bred out of any ferret be it domesticated or wild is the ability to hunt ( no there not playing nicely with there soft toys they are practicing how to kill prey ) lots of ferrets have been killed by cage climbing they are not climbers they were designed to run along long warrens underground its us humans who have decided they must live in a cage with three or more floors Bev
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Post by bishop24 on Mar 5, 2018 18:20:39 GMT -5
This is sort of off topic but to give you a sense of how far domesticated ferrets are the polecat is generally solitary and only come together to mate. My ferrets are now sleeping in a pile after playing together for an hour. But I guess they haven’t quite gone so far as to not stash their meat in every dark corner of the house
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Post by olenka on Mar 6, 2018 7:56:31 GMT -5
the only thing that has not been bred out of any ferret be it domesticated or wild is the ability to hunt ( no there not playing nicely with there soft toys they are practicing how to kill prey ) Agree. I can see hunting instinct behind ferrets play. And I was under assumption that there must be another basic instinct behind climbing. I do not make them climb up a wicker basket or a couch. It is their choice. There must be an instinct behind either "cute" or "silly" behavior. IMO
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Post by Sherry on Mar 6, 2018 8:03:21 GMT -5
While polecats don't have great vision it is still far better than our domesticated ferret. As for making them climb? I don't either. But what I DO do is try my best to create an environment with the longest fall they will ever have is no more than a couple feet. Move chairs away from desks, do not let climb taller cat posts, block off the bottom of the cage, etc.
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Post by olenka on Mar 6, 2018 8:04:54 GMT -5
This is sort of off topic but to give you a sense of how far domesticated ferrets are the polecat is generally solitary and only come together to mate. My ferrets are now sleeping in a pile after playing together for an hour. But I guess they haven’t quite gone so far as to not stash their meat in every dark corner of the house Bishop, have you read "Ferrets for dummies"? Kim Shilling, the author, says the following: "if you were to release your ferret in a wild, he would be a loner guarding his territory" Yes, my ferrets also play and sleep together, but this is not their basic instinct. They have been "socialized" by breeders. Those ferrets raised without interaction with humans are loners, as well as polecats.
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Post by Sherry on Mar 6, 2018 8:07:41 GMT -5
Close, but not quite. It's because they are neutered and kept in groups from kit age onward. Similar to cats, we keep them in an eternal litter mate stage. If you take a single ferret and raise it alone, he/she will bond very close to their human, but not likely accept other ferrets later in life.
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Post by abbeytheferret6 on Mar 6, 2018 9:07:58 GMT -5
I have had a few get on top of chester drawers by bracing back against wall and climbing.I am sure others here too have had their ferrets do that. So I move drawer away from wall enough so that they can't brace themselves. Because there is no way they are going to back up and go down the way they came up unless one is a smartie. They will be left stranded or decide to jump. .
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Post by olenka on Mar 6, 2018 12:01:29 GMT -5
I have had a few get on top of chester drawers by bracing back against wall and climbing. Mine have done that too. We moved furniture either closer to walls to leave no space for them to get behind, or farther away from walls. My ferrets never jumped from one piece of furniture to another, but they love climbing up couches and beds. It is hard to believe that they do not climb trees in a wild. There must be an instinct behind their actions! Like stashing food is an instinct. Pooping in corners is another one.
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Post by bishop24 on Mar 6, 2018 15:45:49 GMT -5
It might just be that humans are tall and they want to be too. Aka: intense curiosity. They want to know what the humans are doing up there
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Post by olenka on Mar 7, 2018 12:38:27 GMT -5
intense curiosity. They want to know what the humans are doing up there you could be right. I am not a biologist; cannot tell for sure what makes them climbing up
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Post by crazylady on Mar 7, 2018 14:21:18 GMT -5
Hi probably simple curiosity remember out in the wild the landscape is not flat there are stone walls hedges of thorn and also the rabbit burrows often they go down 10 or fifteen foot well if you go down one you have to climb your way out lol ( nails come in useful for this) or a dumb human who placed a ferret locator collar around your neck and you can wait snuggled into your warm dinner while she digs down to get you lol ( this has happened many many times lol) Bev
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Post by Blue on Mar 7, 2018 22:02:39 GMT -5
That reminds me of this adorable video -- I know many of us here have seen it. It's a Momma long-tailed weasel getting her babies over a wall. You can hear the babies honking, and the Mom doing a rapid-fire dooking to get everyone moving. The ending is pretty hilarious.
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