By ‘eck! Census shows ferrets going soft, moving south
Expect to see David Cameron sporting one before the current general election campaign is over. Once the trouser accessory of choice of the average flat-capped northerner, ferrets have become a fashionable pet for Londoners and upmarket southern types, according to the UK’s first national ferret census.
According to the research conducted by the Ferret Education and Research Trust, 27 percent of the UK’s two million ferrets are kept in the southeast with a quarter of a million living in the capital. More than half of ferret owners are women in the mid-30s to mid-40s.
Just seven percent of ferrets live in their traditional heartland of Yorkshire, where the sport of “ferret legging” — keeping one of the lithe rodents in your trousers for as long as possible — was once a popular pastime. The use of working ferrets to catch rabbits and rats has also died out.
Despite their vicious reputation and sharp bite, ferret experts say the animals make ideal pets for city dwellers as they require less exercise and can be fed less regularly than cats and dogs.
“Londoners have woken up to the fact that ferrets make perfect city pets,” the trust’s Ian Kearns told the Evening Standard. “The numbers have soared since the millennium. You can keep them indoors in small spaces and they don’t need walking.
“They sleep up to 18 hours a day and can be left to doze happily while you work long hours and can then be relied upon to wake up and entertain you with their comical, lively antics when you get home.”
The census was conducted to raise awareness about the creatures ahead of National Ferret Day on May 5.