I wonder if a Ferret is a smaller version of a Weasel or Stoat.
I should look that up.

My father came from a family of stockmen and drovers and they eventually bred Marino sheep in South Australia. Rabbits were introduced to Australia and are a pest and particularly so when keeping sheep in great numbers because of the rabbit holes in the ground.

Anyway to cut a very long story very short, I recall being told stories in my childhood of my father's job when growing up to look after the ferrets and he used to send the ferrets down the rabbit holes to get the rabbits to run out. No idea where they got the ferrets. They would have to have been introduced too.