Feral ferret survey
NEWS
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This page was last updated on Monday, August 20, 2007
Daniel Buckley, Ferret Survey Coordinator, is carrying out a survey of the feral ferret population in Ireland from 2006 until March 2008 and we would encourage you to take part.
This year I am launching a survey to determine the distribution of feral ferrets in Ireland. I would very much appreciate your help with this survey, and the purpose of this letter is to give you some information about how you might get involved.
The ferret is a member of the weasel family and is the domestic form of the western polecat. It is very similar to the American mink in size and shape. Two colour forms of the ferret occur in captivity. The first is albino, white with red eyes and the second form is variable but may be very similar to the wild polecat, dark brown outer hairs and creamy under fur on the body and a "bandit like" mask over the eyes.
- To see a guide to identifying ferrets, click here (264KB - Power Point Presentation)
- To see a poster on the survey, click here (454KB Power Point Presentation)
In captivity ferrets are kept as pets and also for hunting rabbits by ferreters. Sometimes ferrets escape from captivity or a lost during hunting. If a number of ferrets or a pregnant female escape, then the establishment of feral colonies can sometimes occur. Currently the only free living populations known from Ireland are in North County Monaghan, near the Cavan border and on Rathlin Island off the North Antrim coast. The aim of this survey is to map the distribution of the known populations and to investigate if other feral populations occur in other locations on the mainland and offshore islands. I would like to know if the population in Monaghan has spread further in the county and to the adjacent counties of Cavan, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Armagh.
This survey will be based on collecting carcasses of road casualties and pest control. Photographs of wild ferrets will also be welcome. I would like members of the public to look out for dead ferrets on their travels. I am also looking for carcasses from gamekeepers, hunters and farmers. If you come across a dead ferret please store it in a cool or frozen place to preserve it and contact me immediately for posting instructions. The price of postage will be refunded to you. If people are unwilling to post the corpse, I would ask them to photograph the Dorsal (top) surface, Ventral (Bottom) surface and face of the animal. However postage of carcasses would be preferred, as they will be needed for morphological and dietary studies.
I am very interested in talking to ferreters in Ireland for information about ferrets, such as records of lost animals and possible locations of feral populations. In Britain it is common practice among ferreters to cross domestic ferrets with wild polecats to improve bloodstock. I would be interested to know if Irish ferreters are importing polecats into Ireland for this purpose.
The survey will run from 2006 to March 2008.
Regards
Daniel Buckley
Ferret Survey coordinator
Toames East
Macroom
Co. Cork
Ireland
Mobile: 353863691982