Welcome to Eric and Polies website

This page is a personal account about keeping ferrets as pets and we hope will go some way to contradicting the silly image people have of ferrets as aggressive and dangerous. A well treated and cared for ferret makes a loyal and loving companion. We won't be covering hunting with ferrets as there are already many excellent sites dedicated to this and it's not something we have experience of as our ferrets are kept purely as pets. ( I'd be too upset if I lost them ) Ferrets can make extremely sociable, playful, affectionate, gentle, incredibly curious, and entertaining pets.

Both our ferrets have been neutered, this was to reduce their smell and in Polies case for health reasons.

Eric came to us when he was 4 months old and is now almost five years old. We have always liked ferrets, and living in a rural area often saw them either working or at country shows. We had never considered one as a pet until a friend in the village re-housed two hobs and never stopped talking about how wonderful they are as pets. Won over by her enthusiasm, I agreed to look after Eric when he needed a new home. Nipper as he was rather inauspiciously called arrived plus hutch. Wound up after the car journey, in a new environment, with new people and new smells, Eric just went wild and we inexperienced ferret keepers worried we had an epileptic ferret as he threw himself off the sofa and danced round the living room. We wanted to change his name to something a bit friendlier and couldn't think what. After several days being called ferret and answering to this we had to find a name close to this and so Eric Ferret was born.

Helping himself

Polie was purchased for one pound from our local auction mart. She was a tiny featherweight piece of fluff,who just looked so tiny and lost. We brought her home and she just wailed when anyone went near her. She was also very hungry and ran round the house with a mouthful of food all the time. To make her feel more secure we put piles of food in each room. On the first night I thought the only way we would be able to handle her would be wearing gloves. However I saw her start to look weary, and her little head kept sinking lower and lower, so I took my chance and gently picked her up and put her on my knee. She was too tired to protest, just occasionally opening one eye to blearily look at me and fell asleep. Next day she was more or less tame.

Initially Eric lived outdoors in his hutch but managed to sneak into the house over winter and now sleeps in the bottom of our airing cupboard. Both ferrets were litter trained in a matter of days and now have a litter tray in each room, though they mainly use the one in the bathroom next to the airing cupboard. Eric learnt within days that fingers are for licking not biting (although I think naked wriggling human toes will always be too great a temptation for a little lick and a nibble!). Eric and Polies favourite games are playing tag where we chase each other round the living room, they get all fluffed up and start chuckling and doing their ferret dance. They like to play football with ping pong balls and also fish them out of a shallow tray of water. They also love digging so we have fillled a deep storage box with peat for them to dig in. Eric also really loves going for walks across the fields and exploring ditches and sometimes paddling in the streams ( though he loathes baths ). He has a special ferret harness as he wriggles out of collars and an extendable lead. Polie is more timid and has to be able to see her box.

We usually work from home so they have company most of the time, but they still sleep most of the day, and are most active when we first get up and then from about six in the evening till we go to bed.

Promise I'll be vicious later....

Ferrets travel really well, and will even go and lie in their pet carrier if they think we are going somewhere. Luckily they seem to like going to the vets as there are so many interesting smells.

Eric and Polie are litter trained and use special corner shaped trays with high backs and non clumping, low dust paper or mineral based litter. We have discovered anything dusty makes Eric wheeze badly and sawdust is definitely out; after about half an hour with it down in his hutch he was gasping and distressed so I removed it immediately, though I thought I had killed him.

Ferrets are insatiably curious and have no comprehension of danger, so we have had to ferret proof our home. We have blocked up any holes in walls ie where sockets have been removed, blocked access to behind the fridge freezer, cooker and washing machine. We also make sure we never leave anything on the floor that would be dangerous for them to chew on, such as erasers, shoe insoles etc. This has not stopped Eric from attempting to climb the chimney though.

Time for a bath!

In my day job I am an animal portraitist and wildlife artist.

On my web site you can see examples of my horse portrait work and I have wildlife, sheep and pig prints for sale.

www.elizabeth-mills.co.uk