Famous Ferrets

Ferret Hall of Fame

Welcome to the Ferret Hall of Fame, where you can meet some fantastic ferrets who have found their spot in the limelight!

[HFF does not claim ownership of any of the following stories or photos. Please see included links to all original sources.]

 

 

“Adventures with the Bandit” – April 2017

Meet Bandit, the ferret who walked 84 miles along Hadrian’s Wall with his owner, Charles Hammerton, to raise money for Motor Neuron Disease! See the links below to read about Bandit’s Story.

Bandit’s Claim to Fame on BBC

Video

Bandit’s Facebook Page

Charlie Hammerton with Bandit
Charles and Bandit Original Photo from Adventure With Bandit: https://www.facebook.com/adventurewithbandit/

Click Here Donate to Bandit’s Walk

From Charles Hammerton’s Crowdfunding page:

“On Thursday 2nd March 2017, my Mother, Jan Hammerton, died of motor neurons diseases. She had been ill for many years and she peacefully passed in the comfort of St. Elizabeths Hospice in Ipswich, Suffolk.

My travelling companion and I decided it would be great to idea to walk the coast to coast hike over the Hadrian’s Wall Path in as little as 3 and a half days, raising money by sponsorship. A noble undertaking to any hiker, but there is a massive twist to this fund raising challenge. My hiking partner is only 6 inches high, sleeps like a log and STINKS! His names Bandit, and hes a ferret.

Starting on the 10th of April 2017, our route will take us 86 (ish) miles through the beautiful Northumberland countryside, starting at Newcastle and finishing 20 miles west of Carlisle. We will take 3 over night stops, camping along the path. We’ll have our trusty partner in crime Isobel meeting us at each campsite ready to put Bandit and I into bed to rest up for the next days hiking. When we complete our task, we will be the first man and ferret team to walk the entire path, especially in as fast a time as 3 and a half days!

We’ve chosen to raise funds for two organisations. Firstly, the efforts of the St. Elizabeth Hospice staff in Jan’s final weeks were heroic; without them this whole process would have been much more painful. Secondly we’ve nominated the Motor Neurons Disease Association because I believe that with the correctly applied funding, MND can be effectively combated.

We aim to raise £1000 so please get donating, messaging in and following our journey and preparation. Bandit loves attention when we’re out walking, so if you’re local why not join us for a mile or two? Come be part of the first expedition of its kind!

please follow us and see our previous adventures here at https://www.facebook.com/adventurewithbandit

Donate for research, donate for adventure, donate for Jan, a friend, champion and Mother.”

Zelda – Ferret Pacemaker – Jan 2017

Read the Kansas State University article about Zelda’s adventure HERE

Video

Zelda’s Pacemaker seen on XRay. Original Photo from Kansas State University: http://www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/2017-01/pacemaker13117.html

Meet Zelda, one of the first ferrets to ever be implanted with a pacemaker! The procedure was performed in Jan 2017 at Kansas State University’s Veterinary Health Center by Justin Thomason (veterinary cardiologist) and his teammates Emily Klocke (clinical associate professor of small animal surgery) and David Rankin (clinical professor of anesthesiology).

 

Weasel Collision with the Hadron Collider – April 2016

This famous weasel is not a ferret, but one of their mustelid cousins – a Stone Marten. In April, 2016 the news went viral about a mischevious little mustelid who managed to shut down the world’s largest Hadron Collider. Sadly, the little marten didn’t survive his adventures. Read more on NPR’s Article: Weasel Apparently Shuts Down World’s Most Powerful Particle Collider.

Those physicists should have been more thorough in their Ferret Proofing…. 😉

 

Imphal and Quebec – Military Mustelids

British Army deploys ferret forces to Münster
Photo: Corporal James Williams RLC; Origial Photo from: https://www.thelocal.de/20080925/14529

Meet Imphal and Quebec – a pair of ferrets who serve as members of the British Army’s 20th Armoured Brigade as part of the 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment in Germany. The tradition of adopting ferrets into the Brigade started around WWI, when the ferrets were originally used to hunt rabbits to feed the hungry soldiers. Now days these honorary military members participate in parades and troop formations – they even have their own uniforms!

Read about Imphal and Quebec on thelocal and yorkshirepost

Or find them at the 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment Facebook Page

Freddie the Ferret Electrician

Meet Freddie, a ferret from Auckland, New Zealand who works as an electrician’s assistant. Freddie runs wires, attached to him by a harness, through pipes where humans cannot easily reach. Read more in Time Magazine or DharmaCafe.

Felicia the Ferret Pipe-Cleaner

Felicia the Ferret
Photo from: http://history.fnal.gov/felicia.html

Meet Felicia, a ferret tasked with cleaning pipes in the National Accelerator Lab in Batavia. Felicia runs through pipes in a large atom collider, preventing dust from accumulating in the pipes and interfering with experiments snad saving the lab thousands of dollars. Read her full story at Fermilab History and Archives Project and Here.

 

Ferrets in History:

Check out a fun page about Ferrets in History here: Ferrets in History