Competitions – Manitoba Ferret Association

The 2015 members only Valentine’s Party was held on February 15th. The first human game “Steal Your Hearts” had folks picking up candy heart with CHOPSTICKS and transferring them into a dish. Sharon beat out everyone else with 12 candy hearts in 30 seconds. Sharon actually picked up 2 hearts at once and that put her in the lead from Sue’s 9 hearts. Sharon won a stuffed Frog for her fuzzies.

The first ferret related game was “Pick your Own Treat” We had 6 paper plates set in a circle. Each plate had a different treat on it. Bandit Chicken, Raisin and Bacon, Ferret Chews, Ferretone and Chicken Temptations. You placed your ferret in the circle and guessed which treat he would not just sniff at but actually eat! Both of Rena’s ferrets Jack and Baby chose her guess of the Ferretone. Sharon’s Sara correctly chose the Chicken Chew stick and her Diago correctly chose the Ferretone. All the correct guesses went into a draw and Sharon’s Sara won a stuffed Bear holding a heart!

Our next human game was the Left/Right Story told by our Melissa. You had to pass the gift to the person on your left or right as the story unfolded. You would think this is easy but after a bit, left became right and had you confused as hell. The gift ended with Andy who took home a stuffed puppy and a crinkle toy.

The Most Kisses in 30 seconds was hilarious in that only 2 ferrets deemed their owners worthy of kisses this year. Rena’s Jack gave her 5 kisses however Zoe’s Radish bestowed a whopping 25 smooches to win a stuffed Tiger which he promptly clamped on to and wouldn’t let go of!

Our net human game, Cupid’s Arrow turned out to be much harder than it looked. You had to BLOW a Q-Tip through a straw into a Valentine Pot. Zoe and Leslie sitting on the love seat behind the coffee table ended up “shot” with the Q’Tip arrows over and over. Dare I say everyone was full of hot air and overshot the mark! Melissa managed to get one Q-Tip arrow into the pot to win a Happy Face stuffy and mouse toy!

The Lightest ferret went to Dan and Melissa’s Bellie at 1 pound 07 ozs slipping past Nibbles at 1 pound 09 ozs and the Heaviest ferret went to Zoe’s Turnip at 3 pounds 06 ozs skipping past Duncan at 3 pounds 03 ozs.

The next game should have come with a warning to use the bathroom before we started. The game was very simple. Place cookie on forehead and move the cookie into your mouth. Easy Peasy! RIGHT! The facial contortions, the tongue antics, the shoulder wiggles, the desperate rolling on the floor trying to keep the cookie off the floor; honestly, you had to be there. If our wonderful photographer had taken a full length video, there would be much bribing to keep the video of the net!! Much laughter till some of use almost peed ourselves. All the successful cookie grabbers names went into the draw and Brandon won the squeeky bird and cat toy.

The final game of the day was pin the lips on the Heart Valentine. Brandon cleaned up by placing his lips almost on top of the lip outline!

Adrienne brought a lovely tray of cookies and tarts, Sharon had crisps and dips and Deb provided the tea, coffee, pop and potato chips.

All in all, it was a terrific party. All the ferrets socialized with only a few spats. Fred took lots and lots of pictures and we invite you to view them on our Flicker account.

These beautiful little carpet sharks come in a variety of colors with different markings and many patterns.

Turnip

When describing a ferret’s appearance, two terms are used; Colour and Pattern.

Colour is in reference to the colours of the ferret’s *guard hair, **undercoat, eyes, and nose.

Pattern is the concentration and distribution of colour on the body, mask, and nose.Where applicable, pattern can also refer to white markings that appear on the head or feet.

*Guard Hairs Are simply the stiffer, more prominent and longer fur that covers the shorter and softer undercoat. Guard Hairs provide the critters coloration or camouflage and, in many mammals, also aid in water proofing the fur.

**The undercoats job is to act as insulation and also to provide a water resistant barrier.

There are competitions in which ferrets are judged on a number of different criteria, including structure, colour, coat condition, temperament, and grooming.   Every show is different; some shows have seminars and other educational events taking place throughout the day. Others have fun events such as the “best dressed ferret” competition or the “best kisser” competition.

A significant portion of your ferret’s score at the show may be determined by the maintenance of your ferret.   That is, the judges are looking for ferrets that are not just a nice colours or well put-together, but also ferrets that have been well taken care of throughout their life.

Ferrets need regular routine maintenance to remain healthy. Ears should be cleaned regularly, nails should be trimmed at least every 2 weeks, teeth should be brushed regularly.

If you would like to see the different colors of Ferrets:: Click Here

If would like to see the different types of masks and nose colour/markings and what judges look for at shows:: Click Here.

If you would like to see the LOS National Colour, Pattern Standards and Body Structures:: Click Here

If you would like to see more fur colouring, patterns and markings:: Click Here