Ferret

Overview

Ferrets are fully domesticated descendants of the European polecat, bred by humans for at least 2,500 years - initially for hunting rabbits (a practice called ferreting). They belong to the Mustelidae family, making them relatives of otters, minks, and badgers. Highly social, playful, and mischievous, ferrets sleep up to 16-18 hours per day but are intensely active during their waking periods. They are obligate carnivores requiring high-protein diets.

Quick Facts

History

In 1933 the ferret handed virology its first grip on human influenza. Wilson Smith, Christopher Andrewes and Patrick Laidlaw, working at the National Institute for Medical Research in London during an English epidemic, had filtered throat washings from patients and failed to infect guinea pigs, mice, rabbits, hamsters, hedgehogs or monkeys. Ferrets were on hand only because a neighboring laboratory kept them for canine distemper work. Two inoculated animals came down with a two-day incubation, a double temperature spike and streaming noses, close enough to the human illness to establish that a virus caused it. The species has been the standard influenza model ever since.