What the hell is going on?

[Tiercel 6,986]

A ferret is a ferret, no problems with that!

 

Some work better than others. Thats true!

 

Ferrets have been worked for the last 2,000 years. Fact!

 

Now all of a sudden there are people who are 'improving' the ferret, now colour is more important than working ability. It seems this year the darker the ferret is, the more desirable it is. FFS get a grip, ferrets are getting like pedigree dogs, and if the purveyors of these 'improved ferrets' get their way the humble ferret is going to go the way of all the working strains of dogs that have been messed up by the so called dog lovers.

 

If you want to improve your ferrets breed only the best worker to the best worker. That is how it has been for the last 2,000 years and they have survived as workers. But, where will they be in 20 years if this fancy for micro, eu, angora or silver ferrets persists.

 

In the last 2000 years there have been quiet a number of different strains of dogs created, each dog had their own purpose and was created to fulfil that purpose in the hunting field. Yet the ferret has remained the same, does it not make you wonder why?

 

Perhaps it is because it is hard to beat perfection?

 

Rant over, blame the bow.

 

TC

Edited July 24, 2011 by tiercel

[MickyB 327]

A ferret is a ferret, no problems with that!

 

Some work better than others. Thats true!

 

Ferrets have been worked for the last 2,000 years. Fact!

 

Now all of a sudden there are people who are 'improving' the ferret, now colour is more important than working ability. It seems this year the darker the ferret is, the more desirable it is. FFS get a grip, ferrets are getting like pedigree dogs, and if the purveyors of these 'improved ferrets' get their way the humble ferret is going to go the way of all the working strains of dogs that have been messed up by the so called dog lovers.

 

If you want to improve your ferrets breed only the best worker to the best worker. That is how it has been for the last 2,000 years and they have survived as workers. But, where will they be in 20 years if this fancy for micro, eu, angora or silver ferrets persists.

:

In the last 2000 years there have been quiet a number of different strains of dogs created, each dog had their own purpose and was created to fulfil that purpose in the hunting field. Yet the ferret has remained the same, does it not make you wonder why?

 

Perhaps it is because it is hard to beat perfection?

 

Rant over, blame the bow.

 

TC

Try not to drink before you post pal fair rant though! :thumbs

Edited July 25, 2011 by MickyB

[kenny243 54]

hi mate ,

i !m the one that posted the thread about the micros , dont wonna breed the in to my good working stock !my working stock i select on goodworking ferrets and good karakters !

just would like to keep some micro's as pets !

is there something wrong with that ?

 

do like the dark ferrets , but that is just my , can not see the harm in breeding a littele more withe dark ferrets , just because i like them , you ?

 

gr

ken

[simonrocco 175]

A ferret is a ferret, no problems with that!

 

Some work better than others. Thats true!

 

Ferrets have been worked for the last 2,000 years. Fact!

 

Now all of a sudden there are people who are 'improving' the ferret, now colour is more important than working ability. It seems this year the darker the ferret is, the more desirable it is. FFS get a grip, ferrets are getting like pedigree dogs, and if the purveyors of these 'improved ferrets' get their way the humble ferret is going to go the way of all the working strains of dogs that have been messed up by the so called dog lovers.

 

If you want to improve your ferrets breed only the best worker to the best worker. That is how it has been for the last 2,000 years and they have survived as workers. But, where will they be in 20 years if this fancy for micro, eu, angora or silver ferrets persists.

 

In the last 2000 years there have been quiet a number of different strains of dogs created, each dog had their own purpose and was created to fulfil that purpose in the hunting field. Yet the ferret has remained the same, does it not make you wonder why?

 

Perhaps it is because it is hard to beat perfection?

 

Rant over, blame the bow.

 

TC

[patterdalejoel 669]

[Malt 379]

 

Sometimes I get really disillusioned with this section due to the sheer number of dreamers, pedlars, fluffy brigade & the ferret equivalent of kennel club wannabes who post in here.

 

Then someone goes and posts a thread like this which reminds me that the actual ferreters are still very much in residence here!

 

Bloody well said TC.

[Rake aboot 4,936]

Ahhh strongbow,, welcome to my world !lol

 

Look at my topics and agree with everything I say

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/topic/210308-a-ferret/page__p__2140485#entry2140485

 

Mines was a bit more "ranty" though !!

[max abell 196]

Nice one and well said alan

[Ideation 8,216]

And how many of these 'eu polecats' do we ever see posted about on a days ferreting in winter?

 

None.

 

But they all come out the wood work come breeding and selling time.

[TOMO 26,369]

And how many of these 'eu polecats' do we ever see posted about on a days ferreting in winter?

 

None.

 

But they all come out the wood work come breeding and selling time.

 

i honestly dont belive these eu polecats are true polcats,,, i have seen adverts for them and the adds always read vet checked,,, but ive never seen anyone actualy put up this supposed paperwork with blood test results.

 

good thread by the way, ferrets should only be bred cos they work well,

[The one 8,484]

Different colours , size etc will always matter to some but there will always be a hard core of workers as the backbone

[theferreter 311]

And how many of these 'eu polecats' do we ever see posted about on a days ferreting in winter?

 

None.

 

But they all come out the wood work come breeding and selling time.

well said

[kenny243 54]

dont get it ,

what's wrong with wanting to have little ferrets???? or polecats ?

I live in belgium, ferreting is almost extinct here !

Many people hunt with the gun, but almost nobody goes ferreting ,or even keep working ferrets !

i had and workt ferrets most of my life ,just like My father and grandfather !

we had always have little ferrets and they workt wel , now i just wont to get my hand on some nice little working ferrets to breed with my ferrets so i get a slightly smaller working ferret again .

since there are very few people here that work their ferrets i dont have to breed some type of ferret to make money , had 14 youngsters this year , gave more than 7 away for free to good working home , and the other i sold for 20 euro as pet ferrets !!!

the first and most importand thing i look for in a ferret is its hunting sence ! is it a good worker ? dont mather if it is a big hob ore a jill , an albino ore a polecat .

just does it work wel ?!

than in the second place I look the look, not too big, sweet character and preferably dark polecat . dont see harm in that .

i have good working ferrets , from a working stock more than 20 years old !!! ( grandfather , father , and myself )

but over the years they are getting a bit bigger , so i wont smaller ferrets to put with mine and see if i can breed them again smaller .

that's the only reason I'm looking for small ferrets.

 

please tel my what the hell is wrong with that ?

[Kay 3,709]

And how many of these 'eu polecats' do we ever see posted about on a days ferreting in winter?

 

None.

 

But they all come out the wood work come breeding and selling time.

 

i honestly dont belive these eu polecats are true polcats,,, i have seen adverts for them and the adds always read vet checked,,, but ive never seen anyone actualy put up this supposed paperwork with blood test results.

 

good thread by the way, ferrets should only be bred cos they work well,

 

Totally agree with you there just dark ferrets , as i understand it the genetics is so similar that its almost impossible to differentiate between a ferret & a polecat, infact when the vincent trust did a whole load of reasarch in the 90's this was some of there findings

 

In order to resolve the apparent confusion over the relationship between polecats and ferrets, measurements were taken of corpses collected throughout Britain in the 1990s. Skins were given scores on each of ten features known to differ between polecats and ferrets. Linear measurements were made on skulls and cranial volume determined. Pelage (fur) scores showed clear differences between populations from different parts of the country, which enabled objective comparisons to be made with known Welsh polecats (these had the highest scores). Pelage scores decreased from west to west in Wales and England, which suggests that polecats have increasingly bred with ferrets as they recolonised England. Welsh-type polecats were confirmed throughout the existing Welsh and English Midland populations and in Cumbria and Argyll, with a variable proportion of ferret-like animals present in fringing and outlier populations. All animals from the Isle of Man, Shetland, the Western Isles, Mull and some parts of mainland Scotland were confirmed as feral ferrets.

 

This is the peice

http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-2795

[redtailhawk1 84]

I have had ferrets for over 30 years. I have euro and greyhound ferrets from working stock. Don't get jealous just because my ferrets not only work better than yours but look better too!!!!!!!!!!!! Lol. Hard core ferreters PMSL. Some of you have not seen a decent days ferreting. How many of you hard core ferreters do it at night? I ferret with nets and hawks and make my own nets etc etc etc. Bloody key board ferreters lol.