Ferret legging

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Ferret legging is a sport practiced in Yorkshire, England, UK. It was first brought to light by Donald Katz, in an article entitled "King of the Ferret Leggers", in the October 1987 issue of Outside magazine.

The sport involves putting two ferrets inside one's trousers, having first tied one's trouser cuffs firmly to one's ankles, lest the ferrets escape. The competitor then cinches his belt tightly, and the clock is started. Competitors cannot be drunk or drugged, nor can the ferrets be drugged. In addition, competitors cannot wear underpants beneath their trousers, and the ferrets' teeth cannot be filed or otherwise blunted. Competitors can touch the ferrets, but only from the outside of the trousers.

The record-holder at the time of Katz' article was Reg Mellor, a 72-year-old retired miner from Barnsley in Yorkshire. Mellor's winning time was five hours and twenty-six minutes of "keepin' 'em down." He did this on July 5, 1981 at the Annual Pennine Show at Holmfirth, Yorkshire.^[1] It was Mellor who instituted the practice of wearing white trousers in ferret-legging matches "to better show the blood."