A ferret competes in animal competitions in Springfield, Oregon.
The Tube Race isn’t your typical competitive sport—that is, unless you happen to be Boots the ferret! Scurrying through a 24-foot-long tube in 6.2 seconds, he took the gold at the Ferret Agility Trials. An annual fund raiser for the local ferret shelter, the event showcases the critters’ natural behavior. “The competitions are for activities ferrets can do already,” says Boots’ owner, Kayla Hood.
ANIMAL OLYMPICS
Boots and other ferrets competed in the Paper Cup Tip Over, Yawning, the Flower Pot Dig, and the Paper Bag Escape, in which Boots won silver. Hood may be pleased with the two medals, but Boots has his own way of celebrating. “He likes to bounce up and down on all four legs,” Hood says. “I call it his happy dance!”