"Melissa A. Durfee" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Did anyone else see the ad for the video "Ferret Keeping" on page 11 of
>the newest issue of "Ferrets" magazine?  The video is "an introduction
>to keeping ferrets for working, racing or as pets."  Racing??
 
>I really want to know what they're talking about.  <snip>
 
BFW put on Ferret Racing as a fund raiser for the rescue.  I have four
lanes of pipes and welded mesh connectors (approx.  25' long).  A friend
made me some starting traps which ensure that all the ferrets start
together, well some start others lie on their backs with their heads out
of the traps and don't give a monkeys about racing.
 
The winner is the ferret that clears the final pipe of the course, i.e. the
tail is clear or the nose if the ferret has 'run' the race in reverse gear!
The punters can get really excited when all four ferrets stick their heads
and shoulders out the final pipe and just lie there.  One will suddenly
make up its mind and stand up - the punters think the ferret is about to
leave the pipe, no way our intrepid ferret then proceeds to reverse back up
the pipe to the starting trap.  I wonder if the little devils know what
they are doing?  Eventually a couple of ferrets decide to move albeit very
slowly until the tail of one is clear of the end of the pipe and he/she is
declared the winner.  With a bit of luck the winner isn't the favourite so
the welfare gets to keep most of the stakes and only has to pay out a few
punters.
 
The same friend who made the starting traps for me has quiet a smart racing
set-up.  He has made a small barrier (about 5 or 6 inches high) that the
ferret has to scrambled over, plus he's incorporated a sharp right and left
turn, more to keep the punters amused than for the benefit of the 'racing'
ferrets.  Mike has also made an electronic finish line, the winning ferret
steps onto a pad and a small bulb lights up to show which ferret finished
first.  It saves any arguments from the punters as to which ferret actually
won.
 
BTW the stakes are 20 pence per bet with a limit of GBP 1.00 per punter on
one ferret, the pay-out on a winning stake is 40 pence.  We are limited to
the 20p bet the Lotteries and Gaming Commission, anything over the 20p a
ticket and the 1.00 would require a licence.  Anyway it's supposed to be a
bit of fun - a heck of lot of folk don't bother collecting if they've got
a winning ticket, we just get told to put it in the collecting box for the
ferrets.
 
Some clubs also hold Ferret Racing Championships where competition can get
very intense.
 
Sheila
Bolton Ferret Welfare.
Membership Secretary & Editor of The National Ferret Welfare Society.
Web Site: www.btinternet.com/~sheila/ferrets.htm  last update 19 May 1999
Waiting at Rainbow Bridge: Jill, Deanna Troy, Cameron, Carnath, Button,
Bill, Bobby, Jasper, Inga & Holly
[Posted in FML issue 2709]