Editing Ferret (section)

==History of domestication==
[[File:Women hunting rabbits with a ferret.jpg|right|thumb|''Women hunting rabbits with a ferret'' in the 14th-century [[Queen Mary Psalter]]]]
In common with most domestic animals, the original reason for ferrets being domesticated by human beings is uncertain, but it may have involved hunting. According to phylogenetic studies, the ferret was domesticated from the [[European polecat]] (''Mustela putorius''), and likely descends from a North African lineage of the species.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Sato JJ, Hosoda T, Wolsan M, Tsuchiya K, Yamamoto M, Suzuki H |title=Phylogenetic relationships and divergence times among mustelids (Mammalia: Carnivora) based on nucleotide sequences of the nuclear interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein and mitochondrial cytochrome b genes|journal=Zoological Science|date=February 2003|volume=20|issue=2|pages=243–64|pmid=12655187|doi=10.2108/zsj.20.243|s2cid=33505504|doi-access=free}}</ref> Analysis of [[mitochondrial DNA]] suggests that ferrets were domesticated around 2,500 years ago. It has been claimed that the ancient Egyptians were the first to domesticate ferrets, but as no mummified remains of a ferret have yet been found, nor any [[hieroglyph]] of a ferret, and no polecat now occurs wild in the area, that idea seems unlikely.<ref>{{cite web |last=Church |first=Bob |title=Ferret FAQ&nbsp;– Natural History |publisher=ferretcentral.org |url=http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/history.html |access-date=2007-08-25 |archive-date=2007-08-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824045821/http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/history.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[American Society of Mammalogists]] classifies ''M. furo'' as a distinct species.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Explore the Database|url=https://www.mammaldiversity.org/explore.html#species-id=1005867|access-date=2021-07-01|website=Mammaldiversity.org|archive-date=2021-06-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204851/https://www.mammaldiversity.org/explore.html#species-id=1005867|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ferrets were probably used by the Romans for hunting.<ref>{{cite web|last=Matulich|first=Erika|title=Ferret Domesticity: A Primer.|work=Ferrets USA|year=2000|url=http://www.cypresskeep.com/Ferretfiles/Domestic-FUSA.htm|access-date=2008-03-05|archive-date=2008-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413144447/http://www.cypresskeep.com/Ferretfiles/Domestic-FUSA.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Brown|first=Susan|title=History of the Ferret|url=http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=496|access-date=2008-03-05|archive-date=2007-08-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810153336/http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=496|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Genghis Khan]], ruler of the [[Mongol Empire]], is recorded as using ferrets in a gigantic hunt in 1221 that aimed to purge an entire region of wild animals.<ref name="Thomson"/>

Colonies of [[feral]] ferrets have established themselves in areas where there is no competition from similarly sized predators, such as in the [[Shetland Islands]] and in remote regions in New Zealand. Where ferrets coexist with polecats, hybridization is common. It has been claimed that New Zealand has the world's largest feral population of ferret–polecat hybrids.<ref>{{cite web |title=Feral Ferrets in New Zealand |work=California's Plants and Animals |publisher=California Department of Fish and Game |url=http://www.dfg.ca.gov/hcpb/species/nuis_exo/ferret/ferret_issues_3.shtml |access-date=2006-09-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905185101/http://www.dfg.ca.gov/hcpb/species/nuis_exo/ferret/ferret_issues_3.shtml |archive-date=2006-09-05 }}</ref> In 1877, farmers in New Zealand demanded that ferrets be introduced into the country to control the rabbit population, which was also introduced by humans. Five ferrets were imported in 1879, and in 1882–1883, 32 shipments of ferrets were made from London, totaling 1,217 animals. Only 678 landed, and 198 were sent from Melbourne, Australia. On the voyage, the ferrets were mated with the European polecat, creating a number of [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrids]] that were capable of surviving in the wild. In 1884 and 1886, close to 4,000 ferrets and ferret hybrids, 3,099 weasels and 137 [[stoat]]s were turned loose.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rabbit control |work=A Hundred Years of Rabbit Impacts, and Future Control Options |publisher=New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) Rabbit Biocontrol Advisory Group |url=http://www.maf.govt.nz/MAFnet/articles-man/rbag/rbag0010.htm |access-date=2006-09-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010617215222/http://www.maf.govt.nz/MAFnet/articles-man/rbag/rbag0010.htm |archive-date=June 17, 2001 }}</ref> Concern was raised that these animals would eventually prey on indigenous wildlife once rabbit populations dropped, and this is exactly what happened to New Zealand's bird species which previously had had no mammalian predators.

===Ferreting===
{{Main|Rabbiting}}
[[File:Ratting ferret 2.png|thumb|right|Muzzled ferret flushing a rat, as illustrated in Harding's ''Ferret Facts and Fancies'' (1915)]]
For millennia, the main use of ferrets was for hunting, or "ferreting". With their long, lean build and inquisitive nature, ferrets are very well equipped for getting down holes and chasing rodents, rabbits and moles out of their burrows. The Roman historians [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] and [[Strabo]] record that [[Caesar Augustus]] sent "{{lang|la|viverrae}}" from [[Roman Libya|Libya]] to the [[Balearic Islands]] to control rabbit plagues there in 6&nbsp;BC; it is speculated that "{{lang|la|viverrae}}" could refer to ferrets, [[mongoose]]s, or polecats.<ref name="Thomson"/><ref>Plinius the Elder, Natural History, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/8*.html#218 8 lxxxi 218] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105233033/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/8%2A.html#218 |date=2022-01-05 }} (in Latin)</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Natural History, Book VIII |last=Pliny the Elder |author-link=Pliny the Elder |others=[[Philemon Holland]] (trans) |year=1601 |chapter-url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/holland/pliny8.html |access-date=19 April 2011 |chapter=LV. Of Hares and Connies. |title-link=Natural History (Pliny) |archive-date=5 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105232948/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/holland/pliny8.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In England, in 1390, a law was enacted restricting the use of ferrets for hunting to the relatively wealthy:
{{blockquote|it is ordained that no manner of layman which hath not lands to the value of forty shillings a year shall from henceforth keep any greyhound or other dog to hunt, nor shall he use ferrets, nets, heys, harepipes nor cords, nor other engines for to take or destroy deer, hares, nor conies, nor other gentlemen's game, under pain of twelve months' imprisonment.<ref name="Mackay1891">{{cite book |editor-last=Mackay |editor-first=Thomas |title=Plea for Liberty |url=https://archive.org/details/pleaforliberty00mack |year=1891 |publisher=D. Appleton and Co}}</ref>}}<!-- Double-check the source—Thomson claims this reference spelled it "fyrets").-->

Ferrets were first introduced into the American continents in the 17th century, and were used extensively from 1860 until the start of [[World War II]] to protect grain stores in the American West from rodents. They are still used for hunting in some countries, including the United Kingdom, where rabbits are considered a [[Pest (organism)|pest]] by farmers.<ref>{{cite web|title=In Mystery, Ferret Thefts Sweep Southern England|url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304361604579290013495981126|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=2017-03-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321170935/https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304361604579290013495981126|archive-date=2017-03-21|url-status=dead}}</ref> The practice is illegal in several countries where it is feared that ferrets could unbalance the ecology. In 2009 in Finland, where ferreting was previously unknown, the city of Helsinki began to use ferrets to restrict the city's rabbit population to a manageable level. Ferreting was chosen because in populated areas it is considered to be safer and less ecologically damaging than shooting the rabbits.