The unnamed ferret

We had a chimney sweep in today. Very British, I know. Well, he was asking if we had any sort of booklets for the fire because he was having trouble replacing a panel on it, and my dad pulled up outside in his van and I thought, oh well, I can wait here and ask him.

So he opens his van door and comes up to me with a crate.
"It's an emergency!"
I was a bit confused, thinking, well yeah, I'm going into his field but he's been driving for how long now and I'm not qualified, so how can I help?

So I ask, "What's wrong?" And he hands me this crate saying "There's a ferret in here."

Naturally I was confused at this point, so I take the crate off him and he goes to open the gate for me, and I open it up to have a look inside. A little soaking wet face poked back out with me, so I send my dad to get a towel to wrap him in to dry him off a bit. After he rolled around in it for a while, and shook pee (the people who found him hadn't thought to put some bedding in for him), mud and rainwater all over me.

Anyway, we got him into the cleaning-out cage and then gave him some pork (which he wolfed down), some water and some ferret nuggets (they hadn't thought to provide that either). He has some partly healed wounds round the back of his neck and down his side (we think he might've been gotten by one of the terriers while hunting or got caught in barbed wire or something) and since I couldn't get a vets appointment (what kind of vets doesn't have an emergency slot at the end of the day??) I went down to Pets at Home and got some anti-bacterial wipes to see to that.

By the time I'd gotten home I had to explain to my mam how we'd gotten him (it's usually me and her who come home with the animals - never my dad), and check he was okay. He seemed a little bit dodgy (staggery), and cold, but me and my dad cleaned up his wounds with some spray and wipes. Me and my mam then decided we were going to buy him a proper house so he was covered and could stretch his legs a bit more (by proper house we mean 2 story rabbit hutch). Brought that home, built it and moved him into it.

He's now asleep with 2 t-shirts and a fleece as bedding until we can bring him some straw, food and water, and a windproof/waterproof place to lie. It's a mild night. He's just curled up to sleep, hopefully that'll help him on his way to recovery.

He's remarkably thin and weighs less than my female ferret (Benji) who by all rights should be smaller than him. He's slightly dehydrated, but seems to be solving that issue, and hopefully he'll put some weight on and start to get a shinier coat soon (natural sign of him being on the mend). Also, with a better place to sleep, his immune system should kick in and start to heal himself up a bit quicker. They're pretty robust little animals.

On another note, though, people need to know you can't leave an animal you find out in the cold without food or drink never mind bedding overnight, and that doing so isn't doing the creature a favour. Especially if you're so scared of it that you don't want to open the box to make sure it's still alive in the morning. You need to get it help straight away. I worry that people have no common sense these days. If it was a dog, I bet he wouldn't have been treat differently. Ferrets are pets too.

On the same sort of note, the RSPCA need to be ashamed of themselves. Any animal in need is YOUR responsibility and I'm sorry if for some reason your charity sees a ferret as any less of a pet than a dog or cat but there could still be someone out there to love it and it still has a right to life. I hope someone from the area up here, never mind the person who decided to ignore the call, sees a picture of him so they can see what they ignored. There are plenty of rescue centres out there if you don't feel capable of feeding/handling/seeing to the needs of them who can and will. All you have to do is ask.

The titles slightly off because he does have a name now, but didn't at the time of writing this. My dad wanted to call him Lucky, so Lucky he is. He found him, he has naming rights.

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My two don't know how lucky they are.

I'll keep you updated, hopefully with good news, I just needed to get this down somewhere, really. I'm praying he gets better soon and pulls through for me. He's a lovely little thing.

You're pop was right: Lucky he is! Some weasel didn't take care of their ferret, but It seems things worked out like they were supposed to. Peace.

Awh I LOVE ferrets. Such delightful creatures.

Props for taking care of him

reply to post by EmVeeFF


I have 2 others, all we needed was somewhere more sheltered for him to sleep (he can't mix as my girl isn't done and he isn't done and that could be an issue) than the cage we use for cleaning them out. I know how to look after them so one more mouth can't be too difficult to feed.

Just hoping he stays okay, thats all

reply to post by Ayana


I really love this story, and you tell it well. I'm so glad Lucky has a home. He's a handsome little fellow, too.

reply to post by angeldoll


He'll be even better when he heals and gets some weight back on him. But he is a pretty little thing. Really friendly too. I think he knew we were helping him

reply to post by Ayana


Im sure he did, from my experience they are quite intelligent. I havent been home for a couple weeks and couldn't bring Rakiki along. This thread made me miss him soo much.

Awww, I would love to adopt the poor little guy. I can't believe he was treated like that. I love ferrets, unfortunately they are illegal to keep as pets in my state. Kuddos to you for taking him in.

Left it a couple of days so as not to curse it too much, but Lucky seems to be doing pretty damn well. Having some food in him and a decent bed has done him the world of good. He's healing up quite well (we think from the injuries that a dog might've got a hold of him) and he's even bitten my dad! So that's a good sign.

I even managed to get some decent pics of him today

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Its not as obvious in the smaller pictures, but this is his head/neck:

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Hopefully he's gonna continue doing well and improve until he's all better again

I truly hope he continues to do well. Thanks for the update.

reply to post by calstorm


Thank you!

Me and Lucky have been playing in the garden for a while this morning while my dad tried to fix a ferret hammock one of my mothers friends so kindly passed on to us into his hutch.

He's full of energy - Jesus - I wouldn't've thought being chased round by a ferret would tire me out that much! The other two usually just play with each other, but since he was on his own, I was getting the brunt of the weasel war dance and hide and seek behind a tarp my dad covers his bike with... Trying to put him back in the run was fun while he was swinging his head round and trying to bite me. Don't think I've ever said "Ah-ah. Put those teeth away!" so many times! Lol.

But he's doing good. His neck's healed and it's a case of waiting for the fur to grow back in then we'll get him off to the vets to get castrated and try and get him a friend after that, hopefully. Barney keeps talking to him when they're next to each other though, which is sweet.

He's turning into a little stunner, like I said he would!

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Lucky has a sweet little face, and I am so glad you rescued him!..He knows he has it good now....I am a firm believer in rescuing animals and giving them a good home.......that is how I got my pet.....he was abandoned in the middle of winter in the snow......afraid and desperate. He is a male cat.......I have had him since Jan. of 2010. He is a wonderful sweet animal....whom I love dearly.

I have limited finances....but I rearranged my budget...and I am so glad I did. If every responsible loving person would adopt at least one pet....and care for them....that would be huge....in promoting the welfare of animals...and really a person gets so much love in return....this is priceless!

reply to post by caladonea


I completely agree. I have a real soft spot for animals. I'm an only child, but my mam always had horses and when I was old enough bought me a hamster. It was small, but it's a start. I now have the horse, 3 dogs, 2 gerbils, 2 hamsters (one rescued, the other was left in the pet shop coz no one wanted it because he's bitey (and diabetic!)) and the 3 rescued ferrets who were all found in similar ways - wandering round on their own. People use them for rabbiting and when they don't come out of the hole on time, they get left, thinking they're stuck or something. I could never do that to something; but I'm really soft. I'm terrible with the whole a life is a life and it has as much of a right to be around as we do mentality. The only thing I've willingly killed were fleas, but they were upsetting my ferrets so I wasn't particularly happy with that.

I don't understand cruelty to animals or people getting pets and just dumping them because they can't be bothered. You should have to have a license to keep animals, I think. And a license to breed animals. People breed things when there aren't enough homes anyway. Horses are a good example. The amount of horses that get put down just because no one wants them is staggering. And yet, people can still breed them... Makes me sick. If we domesticate them and get them as pets we should have to look after them for their whole lives, or find someone decent who can.

They are expensive, but like you said, it's doable, isn't it?

Lucky's going in to get neutered tomorrow so fingers crossed he'll be fine!

It's pretty routine and the vets and lady he's with know what they're doing, but well wishes always help things to come right.

And in a couple of weeks I'll add some pics of my new guys... Coz they're sure to come around soon.

Lucky came back from his op almost more energetic than when he left!

So he's doing pretty well

Weight off my mind, completely!

Ferrets they looks so pretty until they bite your neck causing Arnold to shoot you in the face, or was it the chest...everybody know's what they are capable of I have watched Kindergarden Cop. In all honest I have so much respect for people in the animal rescue business, and those who rescue just for the goodness of their own hearts. Thank you to you and all and hope the fancy feeted freak as I call all ferrets finds a home soon.

reply to post by Golithion


Wow, I totally did not notice your response there.

Thanks Ferrets are lovely animals but this guy is a bit of a biter. He looks fantastic now though, and he's got a (girl)friend (the boys beat him up) and he's just doing really well. He fills me with pride whenever I see him.

He would be the one biting your neck though