North GroundHuntNorth Ground Hunt — return to North Ground
Species authority page

Feral ferret

Mustela furo · Furbearers

Feral ferret (Mustela furo): Long slender body; adults 33-41 cm plus tail (males larger, 0.9-2.7 kg; females 0.3-1.1 kg). Three basic colour forms: dark polecat-type, sandy/pastel with brownish guard hairs, or all white; feral populations tend toward the wild polecat colour. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Mustela furo
Family
Mustelidae
In North America
Introduced
Range
Domestic worldwide. The sources read document feral populations mainly outside North America (New Zealand, islands); CDFW discusses escapes and case studies in the US but does not describe an established North American feral population.
Biology

How to identify it

Long slender body; adults 33-41 cm plus tail (males larger, 0.9-2.7 kg; females 0.3-1.1 kg). [1][2][3]

Three basic colour forms: dark polecat-type, sandy/pastel with brownish guard hairs, or all white; feral populations tend toward the wild polecat colour. [1][2][3]

Five non-retractable claws on each paw; 34 teeth. [1][2][3]

Compared with the black-footed ferret: A different, native North American species (Mustela nigripes); not a feral domestic ferret. [1][2][3]

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a feral ferret before you act. Compared with the black-footed ferret: A different, native North American species (Mustela nigripes); not a feral domestic ferret.[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

In New Zealand: grasslands, scrub, pasture, riverbeds, forest fringes and urban edges. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Crepuscular; sleeps 18-20 hours a day as a pet [1][2][3]

Obligate carnivore of small prey; in New Zealand feral ferrets rely mainly on rabbits [1][2][3]

Dens in rabbit holes, scrub, buildings and haystacks [1][2][3]

Wild ferrets live about two to four years [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Not a quarry species

North Ground does not treat this species as quarry: it is published so it can be told apart from the game species it resembles, and Hunt never offers it. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Domestic worldwide. The sources read document feral populations mainly outside North America (New Zealand, islands); CDFW discusses escapes and case studies in the US but does not describe an established North American feral population.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

  2. BIOLOGICALMustela furo

    IUCN Global Invasive Species Database · reviewed 2026-09-30

    IUCN Global Invasive Species Database

  3. California Fish and Wildlife Journal · reviewed 2026-09-30

    California Fish and Wildlife Journal