The ferret (Mustela putorius furo) is a member of the Mustelidae, order Carnivora is thought to have originated from North Africa, as referenced by Strabo, a Greek historian and geographer, in his book Geographica, written in about 20 AD, of an animal in Libya which was said to been bred in captivity for hunting rabbits. The earliest known ferret species, M. stromeri, probably gave rise to M. putorius and M. eversmanni during the middle Pleistocene. Evidence that the ferret was probably domesticated either from the European polecat (M. putorius) or descendants of the Steppe polecat (M. eversmanni), or possibly a hybrid.
Within the genus Mustela, ferrets belong to the subgenus Putorius, from which there are only three extant species: M. putorius, the European polecat; M. eversmanni, the Siberian, or steppe polecat; and M. nigripes (black-footed ferret). The European polecat lives in open forests and meadows, and is the ancestor of the domestic ferret. The Siberian polecat looks nearly identical to the black-footed ferret and leads a similar life on open grasslands and semi desert regions across Russia, China and Siberia.
The ferret was domesticated to hunt small animals, usually rabbits for at least 2500 years ago. It is unknown due to there are no written records. The ferret was domesticated before the cat, by more than 500 years.
The ferret use as a hunter of rodents and rabbits can be traced to the 4th century B.C. The ferret is mentioned in Aristophanes comedy 'The Acharnians'written in 450 BC and Aristotle lists the ferret in his 'Historia Animalium' written about 420 BC. Historical documents from Greece mention the ferret about 450 BC.
Roman documents mention the use of ferrets to hunt rabbits at about the time of Christ, but they were already domesticated. Romans depended on the use of ferrets in hunting rabbits, and probably introduced ferrets to the British isles, but their are no written records or evidence. The earliest records of ferrets arriving in Britain dates to the 1200's, and about the same time the rabbit appeared, a century before.
Ferrets are native to Europe, but were imported into North America as pets; there are probably around a million pet ferrets there now. Black footed ferrets are native to North America
Wild ferrets - European polecat ferrets live in Europe. Black Footed ferrets live in North America.
Ferrets are not illegal in all states, or cities. Every state has their own rules on owning ferrets. There are only 3 states out of 50 that ban ferrets in America
No, ferrets are a member of the weasel family
Ferrets were introduce to North America by the Spanish and arrived in 1875, when America was being colonized. Ships sailing to America used ferrets as a means of rodent control,
There is only one species of domestic ferrets, they come in different colors and variations
No, but they can become sick with it.
Because they come from space
no, there's only two to my knowledge, regular ferrets and angora (longhair) ferrets, but both types come in many different coat colors. Edited answer No, There's only to to my knowlede, Marshell and angora (longhair) ferrets, but both types come in many different coat colors.
there are about 300 animals in the North America
Domestic Ferrets were introduced to the United States in 1875 for use in rodent extermination and hunting rabbits Black footed ferrets first appeared in North America approximately 100,000 years ago, and came from across the Bering Strait from Europe.
The black footed ferret is native to North America