I read the last few days about the concerns that people have over their
ferrets digging at their couches.  I have this say: Stop treating the
symptom and start getting down to the problem.  At the Ferrets 2002
Symposium in Las Vegas, Bob Church talked about this very thing, and I
have to agree with him.  He looked at the behaviour as a way of
communicating two possible things: 1: I'm bored, and I need to find
something to do, or 2: This is a cool place.  It's dark and it mimics my
ancestral burrows.
 
In understanding that ferrets dig because it is a natural thing to do and
no amount of stopping them, or crippling their feet will stop them from
their instinctual need to move the earth around to their liking.  Let's
start be proactive instead of reactive and start working WITH our ferrets
instead of being against them and trying to control their behaviour.
 
The ferrets are obviously sending us a message... and we must listen.
Give them boxes to hide in, and other dark spots to sleep in.  Give them
things that they can dig in that actually give some resistance to their
efforts.  I'm sorry, but rice and other "loose" items just don't cut it.
Give them dirt and pack it down.  Give them sand and make it wet.  In
fact, make the dirt wet too.  They love wet dirt.  Give them the time to
exercise their right to dig and the couch damage will come to an end, not
to mention carpet damage, rug damage and other areas of intense digging.
Too often I read that people are so concerned about what will end up in
their eyes and noses that they forget that their predecessors survived out
in the dirty, dusty wild long before we came along to protect them.
 
Let's start working with them and we will all be happier for it...
including your ferrets.
 
betty and her blur o'fur
for the love of ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 3763]