Merlin the Ferret's photostream

I am a ferret called Merlin. I live in a hutch next to a house. The people in the house are Welsh Hippy Chick and nogoodboyo, they are a bit wierd, but at least they feed me and take me on holidays. We've just been to Cwmdu in the Black Mountains. That was so cool, as I got to run around loads. But I still had my harness on, as WHC thinks I'll bugger off.
Mustela putorius furo is what I am .
Ferrets spend 14 to 18 hours a day sleeping and are naturally crepuscular. They usually sleep in six hour sections. Though ferrets sleep more than most other domesticated animals, they are very active when awake and will seek to be released from their cage to get exercise and satisfy their abundant curiosity daily.


Ferrets are energetic, curious, interested in their surroundings, and often actively solicit play with humans, having a repertoire of behaviors both endearing and difficult for some human owners. Play for a ferret will often involve hide-and-seek games, or some form of predator and prey game in which either the human attempts to catch the ferret or the ferret to catch the human. They also have a strong nesting instinct and will repeatedly carry small objects or food to secluded locations. Ferrets will seemingly form attachments to certain objects and will repeatedly seek out and "steal" the same object and bring it to their hiding place.


When ferrets are excited, they may perform a routine commonly referred to as the weasel war dance, a frenzied series of sideways hops. This is often accompanied by a soft clucking noise, commonly referred to as dooking. It is often an invitation to play or an expression of happy excitement and is not threatening. The ferret's posture may become rigid with wide open jaws, momentary eye contact followed by thrashing or turning of the head from side to side, arching the back, piloerection (goosebumps), and hopping to the side or backwards while facing the intended playmate. This is often accompanied by an excited panting sound that may sound like a hiss. Often, this behavior will break into a game of chase, pounce and wrestle. Ferrets in war dances are very accident prone, often hopping into obstacles or tripping over their own feet.

Ferrets tend to nip as kits. Nipping is the act of biting in a playful manner representative of mock fighting and sparring; young ferrets are also more prone to chewing and teething, and have a tendency to bite harder. When on the receiving end of a play bite, a ferret will sometimes let out a high-pitched squeal or hiss to signify its annoyance or submission. Older ferrets tend to chew far less frequently and, when trained correctly, almost never nip a human hand or only do so very gently. However, ferrets that have been abused or are in extreme pain may bite a human, and are capable of strong bites which break through the skin.

As with cats, ferrets can use a litter box with training, but they are not always completely litter box trainable. Their instinct is to spread their waste in order to scent mark a wider foraging territory for themselves; thus, multiple litter boxes may be necessary, and all litter areas should be changed frequently.
Thanks to Wikipedia for the above.
I am a hobble, which is a neutered male ferret.
I would suggest that if you view my photos, then view them as a slideshow!