Ferrets were a popular pet in ancient Rome.

Ferrets, whose small size and playful nature belie their fierce hunting abilities. These wily weasels were primarily kept to hunt rabbits and keep pest populations under control, including by soldiers. As the Roman Empire expanded, so too did the humble ferret’s range. According to the Roman historians Pliny and Strabo, around 6 BCE, Emperor Augustus sent γαλέη — a Greek word believed to have been referring to ferrets, though it also could have meant mongooses or polecats — to the Balearic Islands in modern-day Spain to control their plague of rabbits.