The Greatest Ferret Show on Earth 2005

This was the second year that Kim and I have gone to the GCFA's ferret show. The doors open at 7:30 for vendors to setup and we were there just before 9 when the judging began. We found a spot at the back of the judging section next to the coffee and doughnuts.

Vendors fill the other half of the show selling all things ferret

In their play pen, Andre, Buddy and Hank await to be judged and to take part in the events.

The small Rubbermaid box has a hole cut in the side with a 3" ducting coupling inserted into. Instant ferret den.

Here you see Andre (and Hank behind him), peeking out from their den. Ferrets need total darkness when they are sleeping and are comfortable in small tight spaces.

Here is Hank being looked at by one of the four event judges. Hank got 10th place in the sable category (we think he's perhaps a bit too light for sable coloration, he might do better in chocolate), Andre got 10th in mitt (which is more of a mutt class) which we were very pleased with since he has a bent tail and really needs some dental work. Buddy got 7th place in Blaze (blazes have that skunk like stripe on their heads) which is down from the 2nd place he got last year. The drop in placement might be due to the number of breeders who attended the show this year. The show is a benefit for the local ferret shelter and doesn't normally attract truly competitive breeders.

Here is the costume Kim put a lot of work into. It's Frodo's costume made to fit our ferret Andre. The cloak, shirt and pants were made from fabrics selected to match color and texture of the ones used in the films. The suspenders are made from strips of leather Kim cut out. Those are real ferret sized buttons sewn on the shirt and a ferret sized leaf of Lorien glued as the brooch. Andre wore a small gold ring on a piece of gold twine. And all this was sewn onto his harness to stay on him. It's amusing to see how much pants you need to cover a ferret since their torso is so long.

And here he is wearing it. He was actually really good about wearing the costume and didn't fight to get out of it (which Hank or Buddy would have gone nuts doing). But still he kept pulling his left front leg out (as you can see). So the bummer is that after all this work we didn't win a prize! Since the costume contest was just a fun event, they gauged the winners based on audience applause and frankly the costume isn't striking when you are looking at it from fifteen feet away. We also had no luck in the kissing contest. Andre can be a bit of a kisser but that day he didn't give one lick! The winning ferret was way out of our league anyway with 150 kisses (licks) in 60 seconds! Hank is our speed demon but in the tube races he was intimidated by the loud crowd and stayed hidden in the tube. So it was a surprise that the event we had no hopes of winning, Buddy in the paper bag escape, we came in first place! It was a long day and we were glad to get home. So now the ferret cage has four more ribbons on it. Just don't confuse us with actually 'Best in Show' fanatics.