Is a ferret a rodent?
No, a ferret is not a rodent. Rodents include squirrels, mice, rats, and even the giant capybara's. Ferrets are actually cousins of badgers, weasels, and otters (and a few others in the mustelidae family). And wild black footed ferrets actually prey on prairie dogs.
Ferrets are not rodents. Just the same, everytime I go into Petsmart and look through the ferret toy section (I've almost given up since chloe usually plays with a store-bought toy for 2 minutes before loosing interest), I am annoyed to see on the product packaging a picture of a ferret next to a rodent, usually a rabbit or a mouse.
No wonder people get confused. Making it more confusing is the fact that ferrets have beady little black eyes, as do some rodents. And albino ferrets, unlike sable or racoon ferrets (which chloe is), do look a bit more rodent-like than ferrets with hair coloring (its amazing how different a ferret can look based on hair color---but this is similar to rims on a car and hair on a person: it does make a big difference).
Chloe the ferret - a Mini Blog about Ferrets
|
Return to VitaminStuff Homepage: 
|
3 Comments:
The assumption that ferrets are rodents is always a top notch irritation for ferret fanciers, myself included. I read a book last year (that I enjoyed but for that mistake in research) and I've still been comptemplating an e-mail to the author to point out this little fact...
For what it's worth, rabbits actually aren't rodents either. Taxonomically, they fall into the order Lagomorpha.
Cheers!
Another owner of a ferret named Chloe. https://bacchuslives.livejournal.com
Actually, A rabbit isn't a rodent either.
You're right. Page corrected. Thanks for the reminder.
Post a Comment
<< Home