April 2nd: Ferret Day

Today is National Ferret Day, celebrating these really rather cute little creatures which seem to have quite a dubious reputation. Here are 10 things you may not know about ferrets:

1. The name "ferret" is derived from the Latin furittus, meaning "little thief". In fact, this reputation is reflected in their Latin name, too: Mustela putorius furo translates as "stinky raging thief".
2. Ferrets are related to weasels, martens, Badgers, skunks, wolverines, minks, and polecats. In the wild, ferrets can breed with polecats.
3. Ferrets are domesticated animals. It is likely they have been so for at least 2,500 years. The Romans are said to have used them for hunting. Some say they were first domesticated in ancient Egypt, but the lack of any mummies of ferrets and the fact that their ancestor, the polecat, does not occur naturally in Egypt casts doubt on this theory.
4. A male ferret is called a hob, and the female is called a jill. Their young are called kits. A spayed female is a sprite, a neutered male is a gib. Ferrets are very sociable animals. A group of them is called a business. An archaic term for a group of ferrets is a "fesnyng".
5. You can catch flu from a ferret, and it can catch flu from you. Hence ferrets have been used to study the swine flu virus.
6. In 1390 a law was passed in England banning poorer people from using ferrets for hunting. Anyone who did not own land valued at 40 shillings or more could not own or use ferrets (or a whole list of other animals, for that matter) to hunt game. Violators faced a year in prison.
7. Ferrets sleep for 14-20 hours a day. They are most active at dawn and dusk.
8. Like skunks, ferrets can, when upset, spray a smelly substance from their anal glands. They don't smell as bad as skunks, but all the same, most ferrets sold as pets will have had those glands removed.
9. Ferrets are intelligent, curious and playful, which is why they are popular as pets. When they want to play, which is often, they jump around in a frenzy and make a "dooking" noise. They are also very clean and will use a litter tray.
10. Rich ladies were known to have their portraits painted with their pet ferrets. The creature in Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine is thought to be a ferret, and also the Ermine portrait of Queen Elizabeth I shows her with her pet ferret, which has been decorated with painted-on heraldic ermine spots.