Ferret legging among the activities at Celtic festival
Dean Hoffmeyer / Times-Dispatch
Neil Anderson plays bagpipes during Rathkeitair’s set at the Meadow Highland Games & Celtic Festival.
SLIDESHOW: |
Bob Rose made his first visit to the Meadow Highland Games & Celtic Festival a memorable one.
Goaded by friends and family, Rose good-naturedly volunteered to have a ferret placed down his pants to demonstrate the ancient sport of ferret legging.
Twice yesterday afternoon, a ferret was placed down Rose's sweatpants, only to pop its head out of the elastic waistband. Rose took it in stride, yet the finicky ferret refused to remain still. The third time was the charm when the ferret was placed down the rear of his pants.
"At which point, I think the ferret kind of gave up and fell asleep at my ankle," said Rose, who works for Virginia Commonwealth University Health System. "It was just lying there and I was trying to dance to wake it up, but I got nothing."
According to Kevin Robertson, the rules of ferret legging are simple -- contestants don't have to be sober, but the ferrets do; the ferret has to have claws and teeth; and the person with the ferret down their pants does so without underwear.
"I was a little nervous that the ferret was going to use me as a scratching post," Rose said.
Rose and the ferret escaped the experience unscathed, yet the affable Rose wouldn't commit to trying it again.
There was a flurry of activity during the second and final day of the 15th annual Highland Games & Celtic Festival at the Meadow Event Park in Caroline County. Music from bagpipes and Celtic bands filled the air. Sheepdogs demonstrated what they were bred to do -- corral sheep.
People could learn to throw axes or taste-test Scotch whisky, after a brief lesson by Scotch master Hal Clary on the history of the spirit distilled in Scotland.
Animal Adoption and Rescue Foundation of Richmond was adopting puppies at the main entrance to the annual festival. While inside the grounds, the Richmond Ferret Rescue League aimed to draw attention to their cause with the ferret-legging demonstrations.
Marlene Blackburn, director of the ferret rescue league, said the organization has more than 100 ferrets -- a four-legged mammal that is a close relative to the polecat -- available for adoption.
Blackburn said there has been an increase in abandoned or relinquished ferrets this year because of the economy. People are losing their jobs and homes, becoming unable to care for their ferrets, she said.
Ferret legging "is a way to introduce and educate the public about ferrets," Blackburn said.
It was an eye-opening experience for Rose.
"It definitely made for a more interesting Sunday than the average Sunday, that's for sure," he said.
Contact Jeremy Slayton at (804) 649-6861 or
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Reader Reactions
And Yes, ferrets have been domesticated as long as cats- but they have no hunting instinct and will only survive in the wild from 1 to 3 days- they have no place to find their store-bought kibble, they are fearless and will walk up to animal/dog/car..Ferrets think that cat make greatv toys.
Our Shelter’s interest has ALWAYS been about the about the quality of their lives.
RFRL has been a no-kill shelter since 1998.Our goals are to educate the public and to generate adoptions. We currently have over 100 ferrets in our system,We use only our own personal ferrets for the leggings, which last for 3 minutes in baggy sweatpants we supply. Trust me, I ALWAYS sweat bullets anytime our ferrets are taken out in piblic, but our job is to educate and adopt. It costs approximatly $15,000.each year to keep going. And FYI, this is our last legging- We have many other events, it’s just the “legging” popularity kept increasing like crazy. W’ell back at the games next year,but with different events. And,you know, even someone who takes their dog for a walk can risk that dog’s life. For more info: http://www.richmondferretrescueleague.org
Marlene Blackburn, Director, RFRL
to mjrichmond, who suggested that the ferrets should be ‘released into the wild’—ferrets are domesticated animals; they don’t exist in the wild (the black-footed ferret is a completely different species). You may as well talk of releasing kittens into the wild.
The “game” of putting a ferret down someone’s pants rather like the “game” of dropping a cat to see if it always lands on its feet.
So an advocate group for ferrets is sponsoring this “ferret legging”? Doesnt make any sense to me….what if the ferret bites you and you jerk you leg and snap its neck or break its leg….is that helping the ferrets?
This seems like nonsense to me - think the ferrets would be better off released into the wild than being stuck down some moron’s pants.
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