NAVARRE — Each of the more than a dozen animals at Navarre Ferret Rescue has a story and a personality.
There’s Brutus, a 4½-pound mass of muscle. He’s learning to be loving, as he wasn’t handled much in his old home. Being picked up frightens him at first, but then he settles down for a cuddle.
Cruiser and Vault have bonded, and seek one another for comfort and company. Like people who experience a loss, the ferrets could go into depression if they’re separated.
Adalei had large patches of her white fur missing when she came in with four other starving ferrets. Her coat has come in now, but the other ferrets don’t care. Her mischievousness makes them squeak indignantly as they try to scurry out of her way.
The rescue’s goal is to provide a “forever home,” but only one that matches its mischievous residents, said Heather Owens, the shelter’s founder and foster mom.
Check out the rescue's residents in this slideshow. >>
Watch a video of the ferrets in action. >>
Owens fell in love with ferrets after getting one of her own. As she learned more about them, she soon found there was no dedicated, knowledgeable shelter in the region for the animals. She opened Navarre Ferret Rescue in April 2012.
Lisa Vaughn, another foster mom, also caught the ferret bug, transmitted about a week after she bought her daughter’s “soul ferret.” Now the family has six ferrets. Vaughn fostered three of them before they became family.
“They’re like Lay’s potato chips,” Vaughn joked. “You can’t just have one.”
Since starting the rescue, the women have saved sick ferrets left starving at their former homes and reunited stray pets with their owners.
Their goal is not only to find homes for their charges, but to correct misconceptions about them. A major reason owners surrender their ferrets is a lack of knowledge before they get one, Vaughn said.
“I can’t stress this enough: Do your research,” Vaughn said.
Ferrets are high maintenance pets, she said. One of the biggest misconceptions is that ferrets can survive in the wild. Ferrets have been domesticated for centuries. If they do kill something, they were probably playing with it and don’t recognize it as food, Vaughn said.
Most people think ferrets eat grains, but they actually require a high-protein and high-fat diet, Owens said. They also need a dry climate and temperatures in the low 70s. Yearly vaccines are another must.
Although they sleep from 18 and 20 hours a day, they still need to be let out for playtime or else they become frustrated and unhappy in their cages. When let out, they need to be watched so that they don’t slip into a tight spot.
“They’re like a toddler on a tornado,” Vaughn said.
Since their start, Owens and Vaughn have worked to take in and rehabilitate their ferrets. No ferrets leave until they’re ready.
“We make sure from nose to tail that they’re healthy behaviorally and physically before they go to a home,” Vaughn said.
If for any reason an owner can’t keep a ferret, Owens and Vaughn require it to be returned to the rescue.
“We need to know that they’re going to be safe for the rest of their lives,” Owens said.
WANT TO HELP? Navarre Ferret Rescue needs baby blankets, fleece blankets, pillow cases and hammocks. For a list of needed foods, contact the shelter through its Facebook page or at navarreferret@hotmail.com. Donations can be made at its PayPal account found on the Facebook page.
Representatives of Navarre Ferret Rescue will be at Pet Supermarket in Uptown Station in Fort Walton Beach from 1 to 4 p.m. Jan. 26.
Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Delgado can be reached at 850-315-4445 or ldelgado@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenDnwfdn.