Mystery mustelid!

[lmjbre]

Hi everyone, just signed up here the other day since I'm pretty into wildlife and photography etc, and thought this sounded like a great place for someone into those things to hang out I thought that for my first post, I'd ask for some help IDing a little mammal that's been puzzling me for a while!

Back in March, my boyfriend told me that on his way to a party at a friend's house one evening, he was followed by a white furry creature. It apparently waited outside, and followed him back to ours. I initially gave him a "yes, dear" and just assumed it was a cat. But the next morning, he showed me a photo he'd taken on his phone, clearly showing a small white critter sniffing his shoes!



I'm thinking the most likely option is an escaped pet ferret, given the size, colour and how incredibly friendly this little guy was. Definitely not a stoat, but we do live near a river, some kind of white/albino mink? We are in an urban area in the north of Essex if that helps any. Does anyone else have any ideas about it? I think he may have been picked up by one of the foxes that live near us, sadly, as neither of us have seen him since. But still very curious! Anyways, thanks in advance And hello!

Edit: Figured out the image uploading thing!

[Dogghound]

Yes its a ferret.

[vole-woman]

It looks fluorescent. Sort of like an angelic ferret.

[lmjbre]

Oh wow, thanks for the quick replies! Excellent, I thought it was a ferret, but having never owned one and being nothing of a mammal expert, I wanted to check And vole woman, he really does seem to be glowing, maybe it was a guardian ferret sent to make sure he got there and back okay hahaha!

[Wyrd]

Yep, ferret. Found one in my garden a couple of years ago - also very friendly (though it did bite me, in a non-hostile experimental sort of way).

[STYRBJORN]

Radio-active mutant ferret. Generally harmless but best kept out of trouser legs.

Ric

[lmjbre]

Thanks for the head's up Ric

I'm interested - how common is it to find "feral" ferrets? Is there an established population, like say feral cats in some places, or do they occur in just isolated cases? Are they able to survive on their own for very long? I wish we had been able to find the little guy again, I had a strong inkling it was a ferret and tried to look for him but he was never seen again!

[Dogghound]

There are apparently numerous populations throughout britain, however most are on offshore islands where they seem to do better, especially where they have been introduced to predate rabbits (i.e. Islay). It is quite hard to assess whether these are self sustaining populations or if they are the result of escaped individuals being reported. Most ferrets including the one in this thread are likely to have escaped from a nearby owner, they are very good at getting out. They are not particularly great at surviving on their own in the wild despite their close similarity to the polecat.

[Wyrd]

Escaped pet ferrets are very vulnerable to being run over or being killed by dogs so most die unless they're caught again quickly. They're incredible escape artists too, unfortunately.

[vole-woman]

Hey, here's a thought: perhaps it was your patronus.