It is always interesting to see how many people visit our area museums and historical sites each year, as well as where they come from. According to data compiled at the Gothenburg Historical Museum, this past summer 13 of those visitors were not people at all, they were pets.

As you might guess, 11 of the visiting pets were dogs. One was a pig. Yes, a pig. For a day last summer, a pig roamed around the Museum grounds.

Roger wasn’t able to find out where it came from.

The greeters at the Museum did not let the pig in the building. They did however, let in the ferret.

Ferrets are members of the Mustelidae family related to otters, mink, and weasels. The U.S. has one native species of ferret, the black-footed ferret. This is an endangered species, and it is no longer found in Nebraska. Though there are no native ferrets in the state, keeping a domestic ferret is legal and it is estimated that 800,000 of them are kept as pets nationwide.

The pet ferret is descended from the European ferret which was domesticated about 2,500 years ago. While they are called the European ferret, they were probably originally from Africa. Caesar Augustus used them to try and rid Rome of rats, mice, and other pests. Later, in England they were used for recreational rabbit hunting and only the wealthy could own them. They were imported into New Zealand to try and control the rabbit population after the rabbits, which were introduced for food, went wild. The ferrets did eat some of the rabbits, but the native birds of New Zealand, birds that prior to the introduction of the ferrets had no natural mammalian predators, were much easier prey and the bird populations were severely impacted.

Pet ferrets are about 20” long and can weigh up to four pounds. The male is much larger than the female.

The females will produce up to seven kits who will be ready to leave her care in six months. She may produce two to three litters a year and a pet ferret can live up to 10 years. They are cute, but high-maintenance and they have a tendency to bite…hard, so they are not recommended as pets for families with small children.

There are concerns that if released the domesticated ferrets would survive in the wild. It is feared that if they get established in the wild here in the U.S., like they did in New Zealand, they may cause problems with some of our native species.

Lastly, there is a “sport” called Ferret-legging which originated in Scotland. In this sport two men will tie the bottoms of their trousers and then drop two ferrets into their pants sealing up the top with their belt. Did I say the men are wearing the pants? As you would guess the ferrets go wild and start attacking anything around. The rules of the game are simple.

The men have to be sober, though this doesn’t sound like something a sober person would do. They cannot wear any underwear, and the ferrets have to possess a full set of teeth.

The two men with ferrets in their pants have to

v stand in front of judges to be sure no cheating is going on. You can hit the ferret or otherwise try to dislodge it when it gets hold of something, but ferrets are tenacious little buggers! The man who lasts the longest with the two ferrets in his pants is the winner. The World Champion, yes, there is a World Champion, and his name is Reg Mellor. He was the first to wear white trousers so it would be easier for the crowd to see all the blood! He also holds the “World record” of five hours and 26 minutes. He said his trick is to make sure the ferrets are well fed before he puts them down his pants! They wanted to start a women’s division in which the ferrets were put down the ladies’ tops. It got nowhere, probably because as a rule, women are not as stupid as men!