Feb 182010
Ferrets are forever using their noses to guide them through the world. If a window is opened, it’s at least an hour’s worth of exciting new things to whiff. Hippy got a leg up onto the sill and he’s catching some whiffs right now.
In fact, ferrets have a very keen sense of smell, and they use it a lot to seek out fresh water. I’ve seen Pig, one of our ferrets, a girl, run across the room and stop in her tracks, smelling something. It’s just a bowl of fresh water I’d put down earlier. They can smell fresh water vs. old water!
I am doing a project in school on ferrets, specificly the Black-Footed Ferret, and i was browsing to find information about them and came across your blog. It helped with a little information about there sense of smell. Thanks.
I also used to let my “kids” sit in open windows. Until, that is, they learned they could easily claw through the screens. Luckily, a little shake of the Yo-Gi’s container and they all come running. I’m planning on replacing my nylon screens with aluminum, so they can again enjoy the fresh air.
thanks for ur help on the ferrets sense of smell! it really helped with my project. But what i still want to know is what esle do they use their sense of smell for???
Well I know that my ferrets use their sense of smell to find out if I’ve given them fresh water or if there are any treats laying around. When they first wake up, they all run around the edges of the apartment, nose down, to see what’s new. They’re not really using their sight, but rather their noses. I’ve watched Pig run across the living room first thing in the morning, and stop dead in her tracks because she smelled a little bit of spilled water that’s three feet away. They can really smell!