What sounds does a ferret make: description, meaning

Livestock » Ferrets

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Kira Stoletova

The ferret is a very interesting and funny animal that people have recently often kept as a pet. He can be called sociable, as he loves to talk. The main thing is to understand what certain ferret sounds mean. By nature, ferrets tend to lead an active lifestyle, but if they adapt to the home, the owner is perceived as part of the pack. If a person wants to know better what a pet feels, he needs to carefully study the description of the most common sounds that this small animal makes.

What sounds does a ferret make?

Newly born mammals make the simplest sounds; they are called “baby sounds”. You should definitely listen to the first sounds of a ferret: this way the owner will sooner learn to understand his pet.

What sounds ferrets make are also determined by the age, time of day and character of the animal.

The pet is more active at night; during the daytime it sleeps. During the day, an animal can sleep 15-20 hours, so many owners do not even hear their pet talk, and the presence of their own language in animals greatly surprises them.

Main types of sounds

Among all the sounds that these animals produce, the following should be highlighted:

squeaking;
scream;
hiss;
cackle.

If the sounds made by ferrets resemble a squeak, this means that the animal is defending itself. Most often, a person hears a squeak during sleep, when the pet has a dream in which it is fighting or running away from a predator. If he dreams of a chase or run, at this moment he will not only make a sound, but in addition he will jerk his tail or limbs.

If he starts squeaking when he is picked up, you need to seek help from a specialist, because ferrets make similar sounds when something is wrong with their health, that is, there is a certain discomfort. During the examination, the doctor will visually examine the animal and, if necessary, take tests. In order to prevent such situations, it is necessary to undergo examination every 6 months, even if the animal feels well.

Ferrets are very talkative pets. They can make several different sounds that mean something in a given situation. In a ferret, sounds can express concern, joy, good mood, puzzlement, concern, aggression, fear, pain and any of his other emotions.

If you want to have a lot of fun and good mood with ferrets, you will have to learn to understand and recognize the sounds of ferrets. Whatever sound he makes, it definitely expresses his emotion or state. And their emotions may be as follows:

joy;
satisfaction;
pain;
great mood;
fear;
anger.

So, let's look at what sounds a ferret makes and what they mean.

Cackle

This type of sound can be heard from the animal most often. The sound produced can be compared to the clucking of a chicken. With this sound, an animal can express a wide range of emotions. Most often, the ferret experiences positive emotions when hearing such a sound.

Clucking can be heard from a ferret:

When meeting another animal. When ferrets meet their own kind or animals of a different race, the ferret does not remain silent.
Joy. If your pet is happy and happily playing with his toys, then clucking is often a sign of this emotion.
Contentment. Sometimes, when your pet is worried or unhappy about something, your ferret may cackle.

Mostly clucking occurs due to positive emotions. But there are situations when it is produced by animals in case of danger or bad mood. Also, to cluck means to be angry at something. Make sure your pet is happy and has toys and treats. Perhaps the cackling is due to a lack of attention to one’s own person.

The ferret makes similar sounds when he is emotionally aroused. This most often occurs during play (with other ferrets, with humans, with friendly pets, or when the ferret is playing with itself), as well as when exploring the territory. Hooting always means that your ferret is confident.

The hooting of ferrets is very diverse and individual. Continuous hooting is also characteristic of males during the rut, when they are chasing a female. A nursing female will also often coo to her young.

Hiss

The hiss of ferrets is similar to that of a snake. It is a low, muffled, drawn-out, menacing sound. Hissing is an expression of indignation, frustration or anger. Ferrets always hiss at something specific: at another ferret so that it does not come close, at a person if the animal does not like his actions, at a situation, for example, when the ferret really wants to climb onto the sofa, but cannot. The ferret can hiss once, or it can hiss repeatedly, almost continuously for 2-3 minutes.

The ferret squeaks quite rarely. Usually the animal makes a faint squeak when it sleeps. At the same time, he can twitch his paws, tail or head. A stronger squeak may also indicate that the ferret felt pain.

If the animal is not sleeping, you picked it up, and it began to squeak, then you need to show the animal to the veterinarian, since such squeals may indicate the presence of a disease. During the examination, the veterinarian will take tests and visually examine the pet. In order for a ferret to grow and develop into an active pet, it needs to be shown to the veterinarian every six months, even if nothing bothers the animal.

Sharp cry

A rather rare sound, reminiscent of the loud, short and shrill cry of a seagull. A ferret screams when it is very frightened by something, when there is sharp pain, or when it fights with its relatives.

If you step on a paw or tail, you will hear a high-pitched scream. This also indicates pain caused. You should be more careful when handling the animal. This sound also occurs during mating.

In order not to make the animal scream, it is recommended to release the animal only in the presence of the owner. The ferret is a thunderstorm of all colors; he will start digging for them at the first opportunity. If there are 2-meter palm trees in the house, then you need to monitor your pet even more carefully so that it does not approach large plants. When there are many people in the apartment, you should try to keep your pet under supervision, as someone may inadvertently step on the animal.

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Only cubs make creaks until they are about 1.5–2 months of age. This sound is quite loud and can be produced for a long time. Ferrets squeak when they are cold or hungry: this is how they call their mother.

Ferret sounds and their meaning

joy,
satisfaction,
pain,
great mood,
fear,
anger.

So, let's look at what sounds a ferret makes and what they mean.

Cackle

Clucking can be heard from a ferret:

When meeting another animal. When ferrets meet their own kind or animals of a different race, the ferret does not remain silent.
Joy. If your pet is happy and happily playing with his toys, then clucking is often a sign of this emotion.
Contentment. Sometimes, when your pet is worried or unhappy about something, your ferret may cackle.

Hooting or cooing

The ferret makes similar sounds when he is emotionally aroused. This most often occurs during play (with other ferrets, with humans, with friendly pets, or when the ferret is playing with itself), as well as when exploring the territory. Hooting always means that your ferret is confident.

Hiss

Squeak

Sharp cry

If you step on a paw or tail, you will hear a high-pitched scream. This also indicates pain caused. You should be more careful when handling the animal. This sound also occurs during mating.

Creak

Ferret cry

why don't you notice me? Experts have proven that ferrets make such sounds when they have a sudden change in mood, sometimes even unexpected for the animal itself. The cry can begin when the owner holds several males, who begin to fight for the female. The animals also produce this sound during copulation.

If the owner hears the cry of an animal, you need to put everything aside and come and see what happened as soon as possible; it is quite possible that the pet needs outside help. It is recommended to release the animal only in the presence of a person, so as not to make the pet scream. If there are large plants in the house, you need to monitor your pet as carefully as possible so that he does not approach them, because the ferret is the main flower pest, and at every opportunity he will begin to pull them out.

Review from one of the readers

Despite the fact that we are talking about the sounds made by a ferret, I could not ignore the tail. When an animal is frightened or smells unfamiliar and suspicious odors, it fluffs up its tail, which becomes like a toilet brush.

Sometimes a ferret can twitch its tail, which I didn't know before. But one day, after hiding his favorite squeaking toy under the blanket and squeaking it several times, I noticed how my ferret began to vigorously twitch his tail, as if sweeping a sheet. I even recorded it on video, now you can watch it too. Most likely, this was how he expressed his concern for the toy, he was nervous.

Personality of a domestic ferret

The domestic ferret is an extremely curious animal; day after day, he will methodically explore all the secret places of the apartment, not missing the opportunity to get into the narrowest corner. After playing in the trash can, he may fall asleep there.

Animals love to chew and swallow small inedible objects, which can lead to complete or partial obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract, and the instinct of burrowing animals can manifest itself in regularly digging up flower pots. A domestic ferret can easily learn to use a litter tray, but can also find another place to go to the toilet, in which case an additional tray is placed there.

A ferret's character is formed by about 4 months; at this age, the animal is already trainable, knows what is and is not possible, and gets used to certain rules in the house. At the same time, the pet begins to show the characteristics of its personality and temperament. Much depends on gender...

It’s worth saying right away that males and females behave differently. It has been noticed that females are more intellectually developed, they are more diligent, and they are easier to train. This may be due to the fact that in nature, females raise puppies without the help of a male, so they are more flexible, cunning and able to adapt to different situations, unlike “husbands”.

But males are much calmer than females. Ladies are very active, they cannot sit still for 4 seconds. When buying such an animal, you must immediately be aware of whether such a stormy temperament suits you, whether you can keep track of the pet, which is constantly trying to get somewhere.

Most ferrets are silent animals and make sounds either when highly excited, including during play, or when in danger. The sounds made by ferrets can be divided into “hooks”, hisses, whines, squeals, coos and clucks. An excited and self-confident animal, when exploring unfamiliar territory, new objects, or while playing, can emit a characteristic guttural “hoot.” Hissing, reminiscent of a snake, means dissatisfaction and anger of the animal.

Puppies that are hungry or afraid of something often whine. When there is severe pain or fear, the animal emits a loud and thin squeal, similar to the cry of a seagull. During mating games, the male, running after the female or holding her by the scruff of the neck, coos in a peculiar way. In such a situation, the female makes sounds reminiscent of a bird’s “cluck.”

While grooming their fur, ferrets itch and bite, sometimes very violently. From the outside, you might think that the animal was tormented by fleas. This behavior is called “flea fleaing.” Ferrets get fleas especially badly during molting and when they are very excited.

In nature, ferrets lead a partially social lifestyle and perceive their owners as members of a certain community - a pack, therefore relationships with humans are built in approximately the same way as they would be built in a group of relatives. When several ferrets live in the same common territory, a dominance-submission relationship is established between them.

In a group of animals, a dominant is distinguished - the most active and “main” individual. During the breeding season, the dominant is more pronounced than at other times. Therefore, males in rut and females during estrus become more disobedient and unpredictable than usual.

Almost all ferrets are distinguished by the presence of qualities that most owners would call “negative.” One of these vices can be called stubbornness. If an animal wants something, it is almost impossible to stop it. You can block his way to what he wants, but this does not always save the situation, because ferrets are incredibly agile and can crawl through even a very small hole.

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For example, it is almost impossible to wean your pet from digging in flower pots. Ferrets don't just tear up the soil, they knock the plant and container onto the floor. It is impossible to wean an animal from this. To save all home flowers, they need to be statically secured, the soil covered with a lid, and the ferret must be provided with a container with filler that you don’t mind giving away to be torn.

Another not very good quality of a ferret is its excessive curiosity. Multiply this trait with stubbornness and tireless activity, and you get a creature that strives to crawl everywhere and visit everywhere. Given that the physique of such four-legged animals allows them to penetrate even the narrowest holes, they need to be monitored almost constantly so that nothing happens.

The ferret's fearlessness is both a good and a detrimental quality. He is practically not afraid of anything! Such an animal, despite its frankly small size, is ready to get into a fight even with a large dog. He quickly climbs to the highest surfaces, despite the fact that he absolutely does not know how to climb down. Such fearlessness, as a rule, ends in injuries and other serious troubles.

Where to buy ferrets.

If you listen to your ferret's sounds often, you can understand what emotion he is experiencing at the moment. The hiss is tantamount to a warning. This sound can be heard from the animal during play. If someone takes away his trophy or favorite toy, he begins to hiss. This is a way to show the degree of dissatisfaction with what is happening.

Convincing ferrets of something is very difficult, as they begin to try to fulfill their plans. Hissing is one of the sounds that ferrets often make; at this moment they look like a snake. If a fight is planned among ferrets, then this sound will be a signal to the enemy, thus small predators show their power and importance.

This animal can be purchased from breeders, markets, pet stores and fur farms that breed ferrets for fur.

Approach the purchase of a ferret soberly and do not choose the price as the main criterion, because you are purchasing an animal for many years. The cheapest ferrets are always the most problematic: aggressive, cowardly, often sick.

Breeders

Like any pet, it is best to purchase ferrets from breeders, that is, people who deal with them professionally. But not every person who has ferrets born at home can be considered a breeder. There are also people who are poorly informed about ferrets and people who breed ferrets only for profit. Buy ferrets from a competent breeder for whom animals are not just a business.

Pet shops and markets

We categorically do not recommend buying ferrets at markets and pet stores. Ferrets sold in pet stores usually come from inexperienced ferrets, which does not allow a real breeder to sell puppies to markets and stores.

An undoubted disadvantage of purchasing an animal from a pet store is the lack of “after-sales support”, which can only be provided by the breeder. And if for some reason the ferret is not suitable for you, you will not be able to return it back, since, according to current legislation, animals cannot be returned.

Another disadvantage is that the puppy’s parents are unknown; it is impossible to assess how healthy the mother is and in what conditions she was kept. Obviously, the health of the litter greatly depends on the conditions during pregnancy.

All of the above is true for markets, but in addition, buying in the market involves another risk. Most sellers on the market are resellers, no matter what they say about themselves. Their ferrets mainly come from fur farms, that is, they were raised surrounded by semi-wild and aggressive relatives. It is not easy to wean such ferrets from biting. Knowing this, sellers claim that their animals are home-bred.

But the biggest disadvantage of purchasing such a ferret is its poor health. It is rare that a fur farm ferret lives to be 5-6 years old, although the potential lifespan of these animals is much longer. Basically, by the age of 3-4 years, chronic liver diseases begin (this is due to hormonal drugs used on fur farms and inadequate feeding of females during pregnancy), often - kidney and spleen diseases. There is no cure for such diseases; Expensive procedures can only extend a pet’s life by 1-3 years.

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The selection of ferrets in fur farms is carried out only for the quality of their fur, but never for their peacefulness and neatness. “Farm ferrets” are often semi-wild and very aggressive from an early age; it is very, very difficult to re-educate them. Some ferret ferrets may remain feral throughout their lives.

Clucking or grumbling

The ferret makes this sound very often. Due to the fact that it is similar to the cackling of a bird, it is called that. You can hear it during the period of your pet’s initial acquaintance with other representatives of the animal world or during pampering and games.

Grunting reflects the emotional background of the animal, because it is heard during mating games (one of the methods of attracting a female), calling its flock, etc.

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What do ferret sounds mean?

What sounds ferrets make depends on their age, health status, and time of day. Representatives of the mustelid family are characterized by nocturnal activity, but during the day they mainly rest. In general, they spend a lot of time sleeping , about 20 hours a day . This is why some owners are surprised when they hear their pet’s voice for the first time.

What the tailed one is trying to say depends on whether it squeaks, screams or coos. This is often how ferrets show it:

Fun, playful mood
Satisfaction, contentment
Painful sensations
Joy
Fear
Aggression, anger, despair