Can I domesticate a wild ferret?

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A bigger net will improve your catch rate when ferreting.

Thursday, 21 June 2007

I caught a feral ferret last Saturday and it's as wild as a hawk. Have I got any chance of domesticating it again? I've also been given a set of hemp purse nets but a lot of rabbits seem to be escaping from them - should they be bigger?

Ferrets
EDWARD COOK says: It sounds to me as if you've got a painful few weeks ahead of you! Some ferrets will tame relatively easily after a spell of freedom.

But a lot depends on how long the ferret has been feral and how well handled it was before it escaped, or was dumped. I wouldn't wear gloves when you handle it as this will be like dangling a rabbit in front of it.

Be careful and expect a bite, but handle it as much as you can. If you find you can't tame it, I would reluctantly choose to put it down.

As for the net, a purse net should, in my mind, be 3ft 6ins long and 18x2ins wide. Nets of a smaller size are seldom effective. A one foot rabbit purse net is simply pointless although many will argue that a foot-long net will cover a rabbit hole.

Well, that may be the case, but as you point out, the rabbits keep escaping and, after all, you're not catching the hole, but the escapee. It is possible to make the nets larger but you will need to be experienced in net making and repairing. If the net is less than 16 meshes wide, it is probably best to bin them and make some proper nets. Everything depends on how well the nets were made as to whether it's worth doing or not.

Someone who makes rabbit nets that are only a foot long is unlikely to know what they are doing, so I'd be doubtful if their rabbiting knowledge or net-making ability is up to scratch. You are best to make your own, at least that way it's your fault if they get away!

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