Ferret-legging

Adult ferrets average about 18 inches (460 mm) from nose to the tip of the tail.[1]

Ferret-legging was an endurance test or stunt in which ferrets were trapped in trousers worn by a participant. Also known as put 'em down[2] and ferret-down-trousers,[3] it seems to have been popular among coal miners in Yorkshire, England. Contestants put live ferrets inside their trousers; the winner is the one who is the last to release the animals.

Ferret-legging may have originated during the time when only the relatively wealthy in England were allowed to keep animals used for hunting, forcing poachers to hide their illicit ferrets in their trousers. Following a brief resurgence in popularity during the 1970s, it has been described as a "dying sport",[4] although a national ferret-legging event was held in Richmond, Virginia, US from 2003 to 2009.

  1. ^ Fox (1998), p. 7.
  2. ^ Fox (1998), p. 13.
  3. ^ Elsom (1976), p. 154.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Flood was invoked but never defined (see the help page).