Carmen wrote:
>Here in Holland I have customers who have ferrets who do have a age of 16
>and 18 years old.  Generally speaking these are small ferrets and also
>their owners are mostly hunters, farmers or people who do keep them
>outside.
 
Are these VERIFIED ages?
 
The oldest I know of with a verified age (vet records) was 14 and lived
in Britain.  Certainly, multiple sporadic but rather rare individuals of
10 through 13 have been seen just about anywhere.  I have heard of a line
of black marked whites that are being watched because it has had several
reach advanced ages, but line claims otherwise have not usually panned
out.  There was a good one years ago that sadly died off -- long lived
but anything but prolific.
 
The reason I have to ask if they are verified is that until the British
one came up (They had vet records.)  EVERY claim to have one over 13 from
ANYWHERE on the globe turned out to be false once checked.  With only one
exception (a breeder who was lying to people and who also cheated some)
none were malicious; they simply were so happy with their elderly animals
that they tended to pull the wool over their own eyes on the age issue.  If
the people have vet records, show records, permits, even a diary, please
have them check to see if the ages are real.
 
We also tend to be avid night-cover people...
[Posted in FML issue 3399]