Over the next few months I’m going back to basics and will be looking at what you need to start ferreting. So first off: your ferret. I was given my very first ferret as a young lad. It was a nicotine albino female called Whitey and, like a lot of ferrets of her generation, she was a real grafter. Possessing a gargantuan prey drive, she would work as if her life depended on it – unlike many of her modern-day counterparts, the majority of whom haven’t a day’s work in them, never mind a full season’s graft.
To some, these comments may be controversial, but I think it is a realistic assessment built upon decades of rabbiting experience. I have had the pleasure to walk out with ferreters young and old alike the length and breadth of our country, which has resulted in this sobering conclusion.
And so, to protect and promote the future of ferreting we need to redress this weakness that has swept through many ferret lines and strains in recent decades. Only those who work their ferrets will know what a harsh environment these animals work in and the punishment they can receive in the “violent” lagomorphal world. Those handlers will understand how important breeding is.

Rabbit shooting at night