maybe a stupid question....

[robo-christ 40]

why do we not see more feral ferret's about?

can the domestic ones not survive the British countryside?

 

i hear New zealand has a big problem with them.

[matt241075 12]

I would say because man has domesticated the ferret so keeps them to himself, new Zealand is quite a vast open space with not a great deal inhabited by man at the moment i believe, in relation to its size.

 

Thats my view anyway

[Malt 379]

There are no native predators to keep the ferret numbers in check in places like NZ & Australia. Couple that with the abundance of prey that hasn't evolved to avoid creatures such as the ferret and you've got perfect conditions for them to thrive in.

 

In the UK most of our wildlife has evolved alongside mustalide predators such as the weasel, stoat & polecat, and there are plenty of animals higher up the food chain. In the UK any population would be naturally kept in balance.

[matt241075 12]

Would venomous snakes not be a natural predator for a ferret?????

 

 

[Malt 379]

Would venomous snakes not be a natural predator for a ferret?????

 

 

 

There are no snakes in NZ. I don't know why I included Australia in my first post, maybe I had their rabbit problem in mind as I was posting..

[Ideation 8,216]

Lots of food, warm, no predators, less people, more space etc. There are however ferrel populations in this country.

[matt241075 12]

maybe a member from NZ might be able to cast some light on it.

a guy from AUS posted the other day i remember saying he was ferreting not long ago and a brown snake popped out....:blink:lol,no chance of getting my arms down them sets shoulder deep.....

[Coneytrappr 30]

If I remember correctly it was not just domestic ferrets that went to NZ. They had hybrids and European polecats as well, which were released in an attempt to control the rabbits and also escaped/were released from fur farms when the industry went down. I was there once and had the opportunity to handle a ferret that someone had...it was flighty and I think definitely had a splash of wild ancestry.

 

As Malt says there is nothing there to reliably prey on them and there was a niche that was perfect for them- ground dwelling birds and rabbits. The climate also suits them- not too warm or cold.

 

Aussie land on the other hand is the complete opposite- unsuitable hot/dry climate, snakes, birds of prey, other larger introduced predators. No feral ferret populations there.

[landl10 0]

maybe a member from NZ might be able to cast some light on it.

a guy from AUS posted the other day i remember saying he was ferreting not long ago and a brown snake popped out....:blink:lol,no chance of getting my arms down them sets shoulder deep.....

 

Hi that was me and it scared the s h it out of me.

i have never had to dig for my ferrets 95% of the time they come out when i call them if not i just wait and that is not often and i have never seen a wild ferret here i think it may have some thing to do with the hot weather it get up over 40 degrees and ferret dont like the heat much.

[web22 27]

a jill of mine escaped about 18 months ago and unfortunatly i think they don't get too far,with foxes/cats even birds of prey,and probably wouldn't find enough food,so that's why i think we don't really ever come across any ferals,those that are found probably haven't been lost lost for long,i would like to know if anyone knows of them surviving for long though.

[comanche 3,038]

I think in places where ferrets were deliberatly introduced to control rats and rabbits they were released in numbers that allowed for a degree of initial loss and in sufficient quantity to ensure a breeding population . The same thing has happened with mongooses where they were deliberatly introduced to the West Indies to control rats in the cane plantations. They did a little too well and became a threat to native wildlife .

In these places -such as NZ and WIndies- there were seemingly no effective native predators able to control rats and rabbits so serious attempts at controlling them with freds and mongooses was tried.Sadly with unfortunate effects on native animals too .

 

In Britain ferrets tend to be lost singly in odd places at odd times .Even where whole litters escape or dare I say it -are dumped - the survival rate of a bunch of naive babies with a cage -bred ancestory must be low.

 

Assuming that they manage to go native and also manage to avoid predators ,traffic accidents and Fenn traps they still may have little chance of meeting a member of the opposite sex at the right time to breed .

 

There have been feral populations recorded ,notably on islands , and there are places where the line between wild polecats and feral ferrets is very cloudy.

 

 

 

 

White ferrets are at a particuarly disadvantage and make an attractive target for crows !

Edited January 6, 2011 by comanche

[mushroom 13,142]

There are no native predators to keep the ferret numbers in check in places like NZ & Australia. Couple that with the abundance of prey that hasn't evolved to avoid creatures such as the ferret and you've got perfect conditions for them to thrive in.

 

In the UK most of our wildlife has evolved alongside mustalide predators such as the weasel, stoat & polecat, and there are plenty of animals higher up the food chain. In the UK any population would be naturally kept in balance.

 

The velvet claw speaks again :laugh:

 

Ferrets are more than capable of surviving in our country and pretty much anywhere else where there is a food supply, like Malt said it's all to do with balance here as with most of europe there are predators for the predators in NZ there are not, so animals that have been introduced ie fezzers, cats and charlie have no natural enemies (ok so in this country we are the only natural enemy of charlie) hence their populations explode

[Malt 379]

The velvet claw speaks again :laugh:

 

 

 

That's the best book recommendation I've ever had, I've always had an interest in the evolution of predators & convergent evolution!

[The one 8,485]

Reading the posts on here some guys have numbers of feral ferrets in there area ,other areas are devoid of them so they must be able to survive

[Ideation 8,216]

AYe - there are most certainly fair numbers living in some areas - i think Brimmer used to trap a few and said the pop was growing and they were inhabiting rabbit warrens.