National Ferret Day 2024 is on Tuesday, April 2, 2024: Why is my birthday on National Breakup Day?

Tuesday, April 2, 2024 is National Ferret Day 2024. National Ferret Day, Ferrets magazine during National Ferret Day

Because your mother went into labor and you were born. But I'll bet that if you search hard enough you'll find out it's also something silly like "National Filled Donut Day" or "Buy Your Ferret a Carrot Day." Good luck!

Does anyone know of any ferret breeders in the West Yorkshire area?

I keep ferrets, and now is the time of year when they will be breeding, as Jills come into season. The best advice that I can give to you is to go onto the internet and look for ferret welfare, or National Ferret Rescue, who will provide you with a list of people. From them you will be able to find someone in your area who might be breeding ferrets, and/or polecats this year. I would strongly advise you to get 2 ferrets, as they are very sociable creatures and will live and play together. Another idea would be to attend a Country Show this year, where there are often ferret shows, and although you won't be able to purchase one on the day, you can obtain details from people in your area. A final idea would be to have a look in the Loot.

Black-footed ferrets?

Black-footed Ferrets are about 45 cm (18 in) long, with a furry 15-cm (6 in) tail, and they weigh roughly 1 kg (2 lbs). Like most members of the family, they are very low to the ground with an elongated body and very short legs. Their fur is white at the base but darkens at the tips, making them appear yellowish-brown overall, with black feet and tail-tip, and a distinctive black face mask. These blend in well with the prairie ecosystem in which they live.

They are nocturnal hunters that require a plentiful supply of prairie dogs for prey. Though they will also eat other small mammals, birds, and insects, a single family of four Black-footed Ferrets eats about 250 prairie dogs each year and cannot survive without access to large colonies of them. Typically a prairie dog colony 125 acres (50 ha) in size will provide a sufficiently stable prey population for one adult ferret. The ferrets are entirely dependent on the prairie dogs for their survival, and even shelter in prairie dog burrows during the day. Ferret mating seasons last from March to April. Gestation of the kits commonly lasts 41-43 days. The number of kits born ranges from 1 to 7, but most commonly only 3-4 are born.

Black-footed ferrets are considered extinct in the wild (they survive only in captivity and naturalized populations). With the loss of 98 percent of prairie dog habitat, which ferrets depend upon, they neared total extinction in the 1980s. In 1985, only 18 ferrets remained. Thanks to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Zoo's Conservation Research Center, and other agencies and zoos, ferrets are being bred in captivity and returned to the wild.