The blindfolded marten or ferret (Mustela Pulourius Furo) has been domesticated for more than 2,000 years and was originally domesticated by farmers for rodent and hunting purposes. Due to their ferocious carnivorous nature, ferrets have long been domesticated as hunting assistants rather than as domestic pets.

Blindfolded Mink

According to records, Renaissance Europe Some nobles began to domesticate ferrets as small domestic pets, but it is very rare. Because it takes a lot of time to tame a small animal with a cute appearance but a ferocious temperament to be docile and obedient, and ordinary people do not have such energy. In Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting Woman Holding a White Sable, the lover of the Duke of Milan Moro holds a beautiful white ferret in his arms. It can be seen that the history of ferrets as domestic pets began in Europe more than 500 years ago. The large-scale domestication of ferrets as pets into ordinary households began in the 1930s. The Marshall family in New York, USA, has been raising minks on their farm since 1939, when most farmers kept minks as hunting aids. Out of love for ferrets, Mr. Marcel began to domesticate them as his own pets.

Slowly, ferrets have grown in popularity as small house pets. The Marcelle family turned their hobby into a business, raising and selling high-quality pet minks, and has continued to grow as a family business. Today, Marcel has the largest pet ferret farm in the world. At the same time, there are more and more professional pet ferret farms in Europe and the United States. In addition to Marcel, the more famous ones are Path vally in the United States and Angora in Denmark.

In Europe and the United States, ferrets have become the third largest pet after cats and dogs. At present, there are more than 8.5 million ferrets living in American households, and the number is increasing year by year, surpassing cats.

Because of their unique physiology, ferrets brought into households as pets must undergo two surgeries, removal of the scent glands and birth control. Removing the odor glands can prevent them from emitting the odor as a defensive instinct, and birth control is to avoid serious health problems and even death that may be caused by not being able to breed properly during the breeding season. Therefore, for pet ferrets, it is critical that both procedures are performed before going out and the safety and thoroughness of the procedure. In foreign countries, laser surgery is often used, which can ensure thorough surgery and avoid post-operative infection and other sequelae symptoms.

As pet ferrets, after decades of genetic selection, in addition to stable temperament, they also form a series of stable fur colors, such as blindfolded, panda, flame, lightning, chocolate , pure white and so on. This makes ferrets as pets have a variety of personalities for people to choose from, to meet the aesthetics of different people, which is one of the important reasons why ferrets are well-loved domestic pets.