It was a beautiful day here in PA and so I was sitting outside with a coworker and his wife sipping some beers and shooting the breeze. She invited her ferret along and was sitting holding it on her lap and petting it. Suddenly it jumped from her lap and bolted down a ground-hog hole. We could not get it out. (somehow this is now my fault too…)
I know it is a predator, but can it actually kill a groundhog? Those groundhogs are big and it seems outmatched.
If it lives AND if the live traps don’t work, will it survive OK? There is a farmer’s field behind my house, so I am guessing it will find plenty of mice and there are tons of squirrels, so it may have plenty of food, but will it “winter” well?
I suppose there is much I can do, but I hate to think of the poor thing freezing come winter.
The Ferret has been spotted - hooray. It hasn’t fallen for any of the traps, but it is at least still alive. Dunno if it encountered the groundhog or not, because I rarely saw it anyway.
Does anyone know if it will winter? Will it freeze or will it hibernate? Are the hibernating creatures?
Still hoping it will be recaptured. If I wanted to buy a replacement, what do they cost?
I have two ferrets. From what I know, a ferret probably wont survive the winter. They’re domesticated animals so they may not know how to hunt well, also they cant handle extremes of hot and cold. How cold do winters get where you are at?
As for the cost, I bought mine at $250 canadian, as babies, from a pet store. They came spayed and with their first month of shots.
Here’s an idea which could be worth a shot, invite coworker and wife back, talk and eat some kind of food the ferret likes (the smellier the better). If the ferret comes out act casual, let it come and beg for food, don’t grab! Hopefully it will remember it’s a tame beasty and come back to the lap it bolted from.
