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Meet Fergus... |
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...and Stinky. They're both ferrets. Ferrets are originally from the weasel family, and although they've been domesticated for almost 2,500 years they've still preserved some of their basic design and instincts. |
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Ferrets eat meat, just like many other animals. So they've specialised, and they hunt down holes. Their design is perfectly tuned for racing down tunnels in search of lunch... |
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The ferret's eyes are very small to keep out dirt and to help cut down injuries from prey. And they're dark so that they absorb as much light as possible in the tunnel gloom. |
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Their well developed sense of smell is very useful, especially in a dark tunnel. |
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Teeth are way up front, ready for action. And the ferret has one of the strongest bites in the animal kingdom! |
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The ferret can carry between two to four times its own weight. And because its neck is so long, it can't trip over its prey when its dragging it out of the tunnel. |
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And the long backbone and short legs make the ferret very tunnel-shaped. And that long backbone has another advantage - it's extremely flexible. |
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The bendy spine helps the ferret to twist and turn in tunnels and even do a loop the loop! It also acts as a shock absorber. A ferret can fall up to four times its body length, without getting hurt! |
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Several companies use ferrets to pull guide ropes through cable ducts which are too twisty to push a cable through. Ferrets do this really easily. |
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So - Demonstration time! In the studio, Fearne and Kate put Stinky to the test! Off he goes, in one end of a short tunnel with a guide rope... |
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And here he is at the other end! There's a message tied to the rope - what does it say? Eureka, of course! |
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