B22—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 3, 1981
Ferreting out ferret farmer is farming fun
The Path Valley Farm of Chuck and Fox Morton also
features Nubian goats bred for showing. In background
amidst isolated pasture are ferret breeding pens.
BY DICK ANGLESTEIN
WILLOW HILL - The county
and the man it’s named after
might both be considered enigmas.
Ben Franklin, likely the most
diversified intellectual at the time
of the birth of this nation, achieved
his goals in the most practical and
often earthy ways.
For example, while serving as
an ambassador abroad, he
collected many seeds to send back
to the foundling nation. Often,
courtly ladies seeking his favor
would smuggle the seeds off the
gentleman farms of their husbands
and this helped found the dawning
nation’s agriculture.
In 1784, Pennsylvania honored
its most prominent resident by
naming a county after him.
Franklin County lies in the ex
treme southcentral part of the
state on the Maryland border.
Although within a short distance
of numerous metropolitan centers,
Franklin is largely rural in nature.
One of the most picturesque
sections is the extreme northern
Path Valley, whose only blot in
flicted by civilization is the Turn
pike which slices through it.
Otherwise, it’s a peaceful valley
of small, sometimes specialized,
farmers, including a settlement of
about 40 Amish.
It is a fitting place that one of the
most unique agricultural en
terprises in the state should be
located.
The livestock enterprise is that
of ferret farmers Chuck and Fox
Morton, who operate the Path
Valley Farm.
The Mortons operate the third
largest ferret breeding farm in the
nation, presently having about 400
animals.
“This number fluctuates up and
down, depending on litter sizes and
our commercial sales,” Morton
explains
Litters can range from one to 22
and averages close to seven - the
number of teats on the female.
While the word “ferret” likely
brings to mind a wild animal, they
actually are one of the oldest
domestic animals, it is believed
they were first domesticated by
the Egyptians at least 3,000 years
ago.
Queen Elizabeth 1 and Queen
Victoria of England both had pet
ferrets.
“Domestic ferrets were first
introduced to this country in the
late-1800’s,’’ Morton explains.
"A going .business at that time
was the ferret meister who went
from farm to farm and rented-out
his animals who drove rats and
other rodents from their burrows
so that the terriers could finish
them off.”
in fact, many royalty kept them
for the same reason. They’re about
the best mousers and ratters in the'
world.
“Although they’re the natural
enemy of rodents,” Fox Morton
explains, "they make some of the
best and most trusthworthy pets. ’ ’
“They live to 10 or 11 years, but
never lose their inborn
playfulness, which resembles that
of a kitten. They have an insatiable
curiosity and become extremely
affectionate.”
Probably, the best description of
a ferret ever written was calling it
an animated piece of elastic, a
furry pretzel come to life, a warm
and cuddly slinky toy. -
The small, slender, winsome
creatures are at least triple
jointed.
Nearly two feet long, about four
inches high and weighing about
two pounds, the descedents of an
Eurasian weasel are able to turn
around in a burrow just two and
one half inches wide.
Is it any wonder they can run
rodents out of their holes?
And it’s from this ability that the
ferret’s archaic and ill-deserved
reputation as a rabbit hunter has
developed. At one tune, they were
used for this purpose, but they’ve
become so domesticated they
likely couldn’t survive in the wild if
they had to.
Because of this old-fashioned
reputation and Pennsylvania laws
that are just about as Victorian,
ferrets, as pets, are strictly con
trolled in the Commonwealth by
the State Game Commission.
The Mortons, who also breed
Nubian goats and maintain a
rabbit breeding operation on a
neighboring farm, are among the
Ferrets rpmp all over Fox Morton. The little, domestic animals an<
slinky creatures are one of the world's oldest fectionate pets.
few self-taught ferret experts in
the nation.
They’re also filled with historical
anecdotes about the ferrets.
The ferret was among the most
patriotic of animals in World War
11. Due to their burrowing and
twisting agility and tramabihty,
ferrets were used to wire B-29
airplane wings. And as early as
World War 1, they helped in un
derground wiring in such places as
St. Louis.
Like all livestock enterprises,
ferret raising has its pitfalls.
■‘They’re extremely sensitive
and touchy at birthing," Morton
explains, "and the first eight
weeks is a critical time. ’ ’
But as pets, they appear to be
ideal, even if unusual. They’re
house-trained by the mother at
about three weeks and will eat
mostly dry cat food, plus a couple
drops of Lmatone.
Actually, there’s a wild species
ot the ferret indigenous to North
America. It’s the black-footed
ferret, which wasn’t identified
until 1851 by Audubon. It is now on
the endangered species list and
should not be confused with the
domestic European variety.
And the little animal also added
a word to the English language.
Because ot its burrowing
navigational ability, to ferret out
has become a descriptive verb.
Natural burrowing animal, ferrets will seek any confined
space into which they can crawl.
make playful, af-