Pat, I'm really fascinated by your post about Peterson Ferrets.  I too
would be interested in learning more about this breeder.  I cannot find
any websites pertaining to this breeder, but I have heard of them.  I was
told that they are located somewhere in MN.  I have a friend who lives
near Minneapolis and she has a petstore ferret from Peterson.
 
I live in WI and I believe I may have met a few ferrets from this
breeder.  Let me tell you about these ferrets.  *Please keep in mind the
ones I have encountered were all rescues so I cannot say for sure if
Peterson is where they came from.* I find it interesting however, that
they each have similarities.
 
My first rescue was a light silver girl who later became more of a DEW
and boy did she have attitude.  Luckily she was not a bad biter, but I
never did get her to like the company of other ferrets.  She had no
tatoos which made it obvious that she came from somewhere other than
Marshall Farms.  Peterson is the only breeder I have heard of up in
this region.  She was in good health for the majority of her life and I
believe she was at least 7 years old when she died.
 
The second possible Peterson ferret I encountered belonged to a friend
of mine.  She had similar coloring as my first one--light silver to DEW,
and was deaf.  She was sweet but by the time my friend got her the ferret
was reportedly 6 years old so we do not know about her behavior at a
young age.  This ferret also had some "social issues" with other ferrets,
and again, no tatoos.  She lived to be 8.
 
My other friend (mentioned above) has a female Peterson ferret, light
silver, who also has integration issues.  I cannot remember if this
ferret is deaf and personally I have not met her so my details are
limited.
 
Currently I have 2 DEW girls, again no tatoos on either of them.  One of
them was definitely purchased from a petstore (other than Petco) by her
original owner.  This one is currently 7 years old and in great health.
She is also deaf and is a bit of a biter.  She lives with a cagemate but
is not very friendly with other ferrets she meets.  The second one is a
rehabbed biter, though she still nips occasionally.  She too is deaf, and
still has her scent glands.  We have estimated her age at 2 or 3 years
and she too is in great health.  She is learning to get along with other
ferrets, but she still gets aggressive with them often.
 
I don't know if this information is helpful to anyone, but I would like
to know if anyone else knows more about Peterson.  I find it interesting
that these ferrets were female, silver or DEW, and had social issues of
one kind or another.  The only good thing I can say is that it these
particular ferrets were relatively healthy, though temperament needs to
be considered also.  If anyone has known Peterson babies, I'd like to
know if they fit the profile that I have described.  Again, I don't know
for sure where these gals came from.
 
And, Pat, I hope you find a way to help those poor babies!
 
Leah
[Posted in FML issue 5055]