FEELING LONELY? BUY A FERRET!!!

Ananova Online ^ | 4/8/02 | Unknown

[scouse]

Ferret ownership 'growing among young women'

New research claims ferrets are becoming a hit with young, single women.

A study by two psychology experts from the University of Warwick shows owners of the mammals are as likely to be female as male.

The researchers believe the shift towards more young people remaining childless and single has led to the growing popularity of ferrets and rabbits.

Dr June McNicholas and Dr Glyn Collis, surveyed 142 male and female ferret owners across the Midlands. Most owners were aged 26-45, while more than 77% were childless.

Nearly all - 82% - had not owned ferrets before but were attracted to them as suitable pets for their lifestyle.

Dr McNicholas said: "I would hesitate to say that ferrets are becoming the ultimate yuppie pet, but neither is the average female ferret owner Compo in trousers. Ferrets are ideal companions for people with full-time jobs who may not be able to look after a dog or cat.

"They are ideal for people living in towns or cities in flats because they don't mind being caged and they can live in a relatively small space. People tend to buy them in pairs so they can keep each other company, and I think most owners see them as an interactive pet that likes to bounce around the house."Dr McNicholas said owners listed playfulness and intelligence as the characteristics which attracted them to ferrets.

She said the study found that women owners are more likely to see ferrets as affectionate pets, while males are more likely to regard them as multi-purpose working and pet animals.

All owners handled and played with their ferrets daily, with 68% allowing them time in the family house. Among first time ferret owners, 90% said they envisaged they would always keep ferrets.

Data studied from the British Houserabbit Society showed that more than 88% of the organisation's 3,000 members were adults, suggesting they were no longer seen as a pet for children.

[scouse]

A similar study noted the affinity for the beaver which has been demonstrated by the American male.

All owners handled and played with their ferrets daily,

Please note first comment!

[harrowup]

And here I thought Ferret Mike had started a new business.

[Daus]

Ferret? What? No pig?

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

LOL. A beaver in a cage? That's a little kinky, isn't?

[RikaStrom]

The only problem is that the ferrets become depressed if they are left for long periods of time and if you give one up, it can actually make itself ill due to anxiety as they may be.

[buffyt]

Isn't that what got caught inside Richard Gere? Oh, no, that was a gerbil... my mistake!

A friend of mine has two ferrets. She seems to leave them in their cage a lot. I prefer a cat or a small dog which can follow me around, and snuggle up with me. My husband works in Calif. this year and I am in Texas and I do miss that snuggling stuff! But I may go live in La La land all summer. If he can convince me that the gym we would go to out there is as good as our gym here! We are GYM freaks now! Fighting gravity and aging one step at a time!

[PetiteMericco]

This ferret hates his owner. =)

[Saundra Duffy]

What, no pictures?!

[Clemenza]

Ferrets are GROSS!!! They are nothing more than elongated skinny rats.

What next, squirrels as pets?

[Texaggie79]

All owners handled and played with their ferrets daily

YATTA!!

[Texaggie79]

If they are trained well, like my brothers was, they are bad @$$ pets. Smart as dogs.

[Saundra Duffy]

Poor little ferret, so abused. Can't trust those hippie types.

[ken5050]

Thanks for sharing all that with us.....LOL.....perhaps it's time to switch to decaf.....

[Slainte]

So, is that a ferret in your pocket...

[RichInOC]

"...women owners are more likely to see ferrets as affectionate pets...

How affectionate, exactly? I mean, they are long, slender, wriggly little fellas...

[scouse]

You have to buy drinks for the uncaged type. :^))

[tet68]

Prince Abdullah has a ferret, it's name is Yassir.

Viscious little vermin, it ought to be put to sleep
before it bites someone again.

[HELLRAISER II]

Ferret's are O.K. my wife owns 2, but they are nasty little scutters. They use the bathroom where ever they please & they are working my wife towards being lonely because they do this & they piss me off every time she let's them run around the house. Maybe the title should read, get rid of the Ferrets or you will be lonely.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

while males are more likely to regard them as multi-purpose working and pet animals.

What kind of work do ferrets do?

[Ditter]

"Skinny rats" That sounds about right. I always thought of them as snakes with fur. UGH!

[scouse]

Poachers use them to chase rabbits from their holes.

[aomagrat]

Damn weasels

[Dinsdale]

Ferrets are GROSS!!! They are nothing more than elongated skinny rats.

What next, squirrels as pets?

It all started with cats. Those creatures are vermin.

[geaux]

Believe it or not, my grandfather had a pet squirrel. I always thought if he would've shaved off that cute little tail, it would have been just another rat.

[Saundra Duffy]

Bad boy.

[CdMGuy]

Ferrets are illegal to posess in California. See folks, California isn't all that bad.

[scouse]

The missus and I departed La La Land, for Florida, eight years ago. Down here we don't need no steenkin' gyms we got golf courses and tennis courts. :^))

[Clemenza]

"California Uber Alles" indeed.

[Incorrigible]

Paging Freeper Ferret!

[RichInOC]

I know, but I had to ask.

[pabianice]

Why buy one? Just move-in with a Liberal.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

As guys on the construction site used to say "If they ever invent "it" in the can, the ditches will be full of "them." I thought it was pretty crude, but also a pretty funny saying.

[snowfox]

They get into.. EVERYTHING!

So do dogs, in my experience. If you want your stuff mostly left alone, get a cat. Or better yet, remain petless, which my choice. BTW, I have had a dog, cat ferret, and iguana. Frankly, I prefer life alone.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

that was funny.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Maybe you should email her this thread and let her know how you feel. :)

[widowithfoursons]

"How affectionate, actually?" My first reaction also. Ferrets need kitty litter, and have the brains of a rat with the body of a large hairy snail. They will poop on anything when out of the cage, and the litter must be changed daily. I cared for two of them that get farmed out to students at break times and weekends. YUCK!!!!

[Tennessee_Bob]

Saundra, here's your pictures...

YATTA BUMP!!! ;

[strela]

Yeeech. A ferret, in MY house? No way. They have a musky odor that has to be smelled to be believed. Its not quite in the skunk class, but it is awful enough. And as other posters have accurately noted, they poop pretty much wherever and whenever they please. My cousin had two live-in ferrets, and her house smelled like New Jersey all the time.

Ferrets (and prairie dogs for that matter) ARE cute critters, but I feel about them the same way I feel about children; "As long as they're somebody else's and not mine."

[lowbridge]

Ferret? What? No pig?

Why a pig? Why-a no chicken?

[lowbridge]

What next, squirrels as pets?

How about apes?

[Clemenza]

How about apes?

No because in the future, Apes will HAVE US as pets.

[lowbridge]

No because in the future, Apes will HAVE US as pets.

In the below case, that wouldn't be so bad.

[joesnuffy]

Ferrets eat gerbils...sounds like a business opportunity...Call Gerbil Rooter....

[harrowup]

Petunia organized POOPY on the PETA model. It is incorporated in New Jersey at the site of the last pig farm in Secaucus. Oh, what does POOPY stand for?

Pigs Ornery Over Pot-belly Pig Yuppies.

Honest. Would you like to join? $300 a year and 100% of the net is donated to the homeless in St. Francis, WI in memory of all those Cudahy porkers.

[DoughtyOne]

I think their popularity soared around 1992. After eight years of having a pair in the White House, the fascination has worn off.

[Daus]

I see... just another liberal pig looking for a handout.

There are no homeless in St. Francis, unless you are counting former Harnishfaeger execs.

[Irene Adler]

I once saw somebody with a ferret in a harness on a leash. He was trying to take the ferret for a walk down the sidewalk which I guess is perfectly possible with ferrets. But this ferret kept lying down in the middle of the sidewalk. I guess he didn't want to take a walk just then. It was pretty funny.

[dreadme]

I stopped eating squirrels when a good friend of mine refered to a rat as a ground squirrel.

put me off my feed since then when it comes to squirrels.

[tacticalogic]

What kind of work do ferrets do?

Believe it or not, I read about a guy who uses one to pull cable, or at least the string. He runs a cabling business, and when he needs to run cable under a raised floor, like in a computer room, or over a suspended ceiling, he'll take out a tile where the cable starts, and another one where he wants it to end up. Then he ties a string around the ferret's collar and puts him up in the ceiling (or under the floor) and holds a piece of strawberry poptart at the other end.

A few seconds later the ferret appears to get his piece of poptart, and the guy unties the string and ties it to his cable to pull back with the string.