Ferrets galore

I spent the weekend at the house of friends who have recently expanded their menagerie by three gorgeous ferrets.
I was keen to meet the new arrivals, especially after the shelter has also taken in two mustelids.

On saturday morning we went shopping and for the rest of the weekend we kept busy by tinkering stuff for the pets.
The ferrets have got a whole room to themselves, so one could indulge in modifying a whole rack and their scratching post. My friende Daniela created a huge and cosy hammock for which I envy the spoiled martens.
To my surprise, and in contrast to the mustelids which I´ve met at university (amongst them european and american minks, pine martens, beech martens,Siberian weasel,stoats and others) at the zoo and at the "Otterzentrum Hamkensbüttel", their three ferrets seemed to be neither eager to climb nor to be adept at it.
Instead they loved tunnels in every form and shape, so the drainage tubes gained instant appoval and were a huge success with the little hobgoblins.
It probably shouldn´t really have come as a suprise, when one thinks of their natural habitat and their earthes (whats the correct plural for earth???). But even looking at the pipesystem we installed, gives me claustrobobic attacks.
Another example why empathizing with another species can be hard work :) - and in my opinion also one of the reasons why direct interactions with a species, in a non-scientific way, may give one an intuitive understanding of their needs and behavior.









The rat cage was also in Need of refurbishment: