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Buying your first ferret

Buying your first ferret

Q: I am getting my first ferret. My parents are a bit apprehensive but I have managed to convince them that it is a good idea. I am unsure whether to get a male or a female.

A: I would always side towards your parents’ caution when answering this question as I have seen both sides of this particular argument. A lot of the time, youngsters get some ferrets and are as keen as mustard until the summer ends. Then it usually falls on the parents either to take over the good and bad bits or make the decision to take them to a ferret rescue centre.

For this reason I would hope that you have done your homework, got a good hutch sorted out and, when it comes to purchasing a ferret or two, you give it the time and life it deserves. I would suggest that you get two males (hobs) and next spring you get them castrated. They will live happily together until then, give each other fun and enjoyment as well as company. You won’t have the female (jill) season to worry about and won’t be tempted to breed from them just because you can. All animal owners, not just ferret owners, need to act responsibly when it comes to breeding. SW

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Simon Whitehead

About the author

Simon Whitehead

A Suffolk-based professional ferreter and rabbit controller, author and Shooting Times contributor, Simon is known widely as The Ferret Man and acknowledged as the last full-time warrener operating in Britain. Born in Middlesbrough in 1968, he moved with his parents to Suffolk in 1984 after the collapse of Cleveland's steel industry, and turned a boyhood fascination into a business in 2001, demonstrating ferreting at country shows nationwide through the summer and controlling rabbits in rural and urban East Anglia through the winter. Simon has become ferreting's premier demonstrator in the UK, sits on the Shooting Times expert panel and writes regularly for the magazine. He is the author of four books, including Ferreting: An Essential Guide, published by Crowood, and Ahead of the Game, celebrating wild rabbit as food, and has appeared in television programmes on rabbit management.

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