That ferret show

[alonewiththemoon]

I definitely enjoyed a lot of the program.  That was some of the best ferret footage I've ever seen--not that there's lots out there, but it was great to see what a good filmmaker can do with a bunch of weasels.  Watching the scenes of ferrets playing together really made us think hard about our decision to have Seti be an only ferret, but I still think we're doing the right thing.  It really did make us miss having two ferrets, though, and seeing all the little sable ferrets made us miss both Ronan and Pan.  Throughout the program there were plenty of "yep, that's life with a ferret!" moments that were very charming and often funny.

I know there are probably people reading this who take a different view of how to keep a pet ferret than I do and I'm sorry if the next bit offends anyone, but--both M and I were horrified to see all the cages in home after home after home.  I don't believe in caging.  I know that in a sense, the bedroom is really a giant cage, but a ferret can run and leap and climb in that space, and have his pick of sleeping spots.  In Sweden, the minimum requirement for keeping a ferret in a cage is a 6 foot by 6 foot space and anything less is considered animal cruelty for which one can be brought up on charges.  I have to say I am in agreement with the Swedes.  I understand that for some living situations, a cage is necessary, but it should suit the animal's needs, not the caretaker's.  Anyway, seeing homes with multiple ferret cages stacked on top of one another or spread out across a floor made me very sad for those ferrets.

Ferret people come across as very strange, but I knew that already.  Some of the cast of characters are known to me through online forums such as the Ferret Mailing List, so I wasn't surprised when one woman burst into songs about ferrets, but M was definitely startled :-)  We both burst out laughing when somebody remarked that the stereotypical ferret owners are women with tattoos and men with ponytails, M's hair having just grown long enough to start pulling it back so he was in fact sporting a ponytail at the time.  Some of the people seemed fairly rational.  I appreciated the one woman who put in an effort to keep her ferrets in good shape by doing things like having them run up and down the stairs, making sure they got their exercise.  Takes a little of the sting out of the caging for me.  There was definitely a pattern though of very large women with no fashion sense who refer to their ferrets as their children and seemed a bit more like collectors rather than pet owners.  Ferrets are so adorable and entertaining I can definitely understand the urge to want a bunch of them, but it's hard to see how you can develop real bonds with so many individuals, especially if you're only giving them 3 hours a day out of the cage.  The collector image became even stronger when one woman mentioned that because she had a deep freezer, she held all the deceased ferrets of her local ferret club in cold storage until they had 25 pounds of ferret accumulated, because cremation is cheaper in bulk.  These people have so many ferrets that they can accumulate 25 pounds of dead ferrets on a regular basis.  It made me queasy to think of all the little ferret bodies lying in the freezer (this from the woman who keeps her ferrets' ashes on her dresser).  (Of course, the breeders have a bunch of ferrets in their homes, but that's a somewhat different circumstance.  Vickie McKimmy, btw, has some gorgeous ferrets in her stock.  I think she was also the one who put an emphasis on exercising them.)

I will never, ever bring any ferret of mine to a ferret show, and I'm not sure that I'd ever want to attend one myself after seeing the one featured in the program.  The Ferret Buckeye Bash, held in Ohio each year, is the largest ferret event probably in the world, drawing people from all over (even as far as Japan, ferrets are apparently quite popular there).  I felt very bad for all those poor limp weasels being dragged around, clutched under an arm all day.  No harnesses, I suppose because it would muss up their coiffures, which meant no walking around.  Were the ferrets hungry, thirsty, tired, hot and bothered?  I'd assume so.  It was also a little revolting to see ferret owners trying to juggle their ferrets and the ribbons and trophies, you had the feeling that if anything dropped it would be the ferret. 

So far, I felt that the filmmaker was pretty straightforward in everything he showed.  But then came the biting segment.  Noses bleed easily, and the woman whose nose was bit had no problem admitting that she was in the wrong for leaning in over a strange ferret and probably scaring it (she was one of the more rational people in general).  All the blood was highly dramatic, but at least the filmmaker did allow the woman's words to provide a little context and explanation.  But then there was another woman, the owner of Tiny, sporting a deep puncture wound to the thumb and warning the judges that her ferret would nip at wrists, as though this were perfectly normal behavior for a ferret.  Well, I suppose if you routinely put your ferrets through the sort of stress that the show provides and on top of that you keep them in a small cage at home, biting like that might be normal for that ferret, but ferrets do not ordinarily bite hard enough to draw blood, or even bite with any pressure given the proper training.  I really wish the filmmaker had interviewed somebody who could have pointed this out, that the shows are a stressful environment in which even the gentlest of ferrets might crack and that it is not normal.  And now a criticism of the ferret owners--if you know your ferret bites like that, then you have no business bringing that ferret to a show.  How does a poorly behaved or poorly tempered ferret represent ferret breeding at its finest?  Besides which, you are endangering the judges and other show attendees, and perhaps most importantly it's showing no consideration at all for the ferret's mental well being if the ferret has a pattern of biting at these events. 

So, it was interesting.  I know the filmmaker's goal was not to educate about ferrets but rather to explore an off-the-beaten-path group of people's obsession, as seen in his other films about people who breed/show fancy chickens and cattle, so I can't really be disappointed too much that there wasn't much discussion of ferret care or any discussion really of whether what these people put the ferrets through is entirely fair to the ferrets.  In a way, this was ethnographic film, letting people explain themselves in their own words.  I often saw myself in some of these people, but more often felt very alienated by them.  I would be curious to know how somebody who knows little to nothing about ferrets would have seen this program.  I suppose if you don't know anything about a ferret's needs, you wouldn't be upset by the show scenes or the cages, but boy would you be upset by all the blood in the two post-bite scenes.  It will be fascinating to read the Ferret Mailing List over the next few days.  I'm not sure people will like seeing this mirror of themselves.

I did record it, if anybody out there who wanted to see it missed it. 

Comments

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Wow, we are on the exact same page on all of these points! I actually felt like we were sitting in the room together when Curse & I watched the show last night :)

I knew the two of you would look at eachother and laugh at the tattoo/ponytail remark ;)

I was disturbed by all the cages too... like a little ferret prison cellblock. It really sounded like prioners too ~ letting them out for exercise once a day.

With you on the biting bit as well ~ personally, had I been one of the judges and the person came up to me casually warning me (and pretty much laughing it off) that I might be bitten, I would have politely refused to handle their ferret. I just don't like the whole pageant thing in general ~ it's like the creepy parents parading their toddlers around in fancy outfits and tons of makeup ~ where's the real soul beneath all that? It's true ~ the ferrets simply don't care about the competition and how "well" they place.

Now that we have an interior staircase though, I'm wondering how we can install the "ferret luge" in a size we can use!

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that when the one lady kept singing while holding the white ferret which was obviously wanting to not be held ~ I just wanted her to *let it go* run around and play. It looked overweight to me, and maybe if she'd give it some freedom to play rather than being held tight all the time it would be healthier...

I have so many thoughts on this (especially the owners), but overall I wish the show focused more on the ferrets than their owners. I vote for a one hour special of ferret luge ~ all ferrets ~ *just* ferrets!

[alonewiththemoon]

That was definitely one fat ferret, and unfortunately a clear illustration of what happens if your ferret spends all its time either in a cage or being held... Though I did appreciate the ferret's editorial statement about the singing ;-)