Deaf ferrets sees the light!

7:00am Thursday 7th December 2006

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AN animal lover from Worcestershire is conducting a unique piece of research into how deaf ferrets respond to light.

Louise Clements was asked to come up with a specialist study as part of her HND in animal welfare and management at Pershore College.

"I really wanted to do something with ferrets because they are so fascinating and there is such little work done about them," said the 25-year-old, of Badsey, near Evesham.

"We have got two ferrets at the college - a deaf one and another that can hear, so I decided that I wanted to do something to compare the two if them."

Miss Clements contacted Droitwich Ferret Welfare, which has two deaf ferrets - Dozie Rosie and Haydon, which are helping with the study.

Miss Clements said she has adapted a system of clicker training' - where an animal is rewarded when it responds to a clicking sound.

"Because the ferrets are deaf I am using a torch light instead of a click," she added.

She has also started 'target training', where the ferrets are expected to touch a specific target object when they see a light for their reward. The study is expected to last for about 10 weeks.

WATCH IT ON VIDEO - click on the link below