Country diary: Breeding ferrets is a wonderfully chaotic business | Michael White

Cranbrook, Kent: Right now the young are hellbent on seeking adventure, much to the dismay of their mothersProgression through the country year here is not marked by numbers on paper or buzzing phone notifications, but by the burning chill of a first frost in the nostrils, the scent of southern climes on our native breeze or, sometimes, a barely perceptible squeal emanating from my shed. I heard the plaintive mewing in early May this year and knew immediately that the first of my ferrets had giv