A "naughty" ferret sinks her teeth into The Yorkshire Vet, Julian Norton's finger as he gets ready to find her a new home

My list for Monday caused some amusement. All three things on the list were important. It comprised the following words: BIKE VAN FERRET. The new rear mech (AKA rear derailleur) for my bike had arrived and needed to be fitted. With my previously on-site and in-house mechanic now away at university, I needed the help of a local bike shop.

The van (second on the list) was the easiest way to get the bike to the shop, which was conveniently close to work.

The final item on the list was a stray animal that had been brought into the practice at Thirsk. It was a young, female ferret, which someone had found in their garden. Anne had dealt with it, cautiously, because it arrived at the bottom of a very deep cardboard box.

Delving into a dark box with a ferret at the bottom had the potential for calamity, but fortunately there was no incident to report. At least not at this point. The ferret was calmly settled comfortably in a kennel for me (the resident ferret aficionado) to deal with the following day.

I’ve always loved ferrets. ‘Fangface’, a roguish albino who temporarily lived in a converted wooden filing cabinet in my parent’s garden, was my first ever pet.

He had a very similar history to the little polecat coloured female at the surgery. My mate, Mark, turned up on my doorstep one day when I was about ten. I expected him to ask “are yer laking out?” As he usually did – it might be football or BMXing, but it would always be “laking”. On this happy day, however, Mark didn’t want to “lake out”. He had found a ferret and wondered if I’d like it.

It was one of my childhood dreams come true, and without so much as a single thought about whether this was acceptable to my parents, Fangface was instantly adopted!

But this little polecat – a young female, christened Jill – could not join the Norton family. With Boris the hapless rabbit in our garden, there was no way she could stay with us.

Jill was happy and healthy, especially after I’d removed her ticks and treated her fleas. She was thin but ate the food we offered her voraciously and, when I foolishly tried to examine her mouth, demonstrated that her reactions were sufficiently quick and her teeth sharp and penetrating enough to catch her own food.

We put out appeals for the owner, but the week wore on and nobody came forwards. After a few phone calls, I managed to arrange a new home for her, with a ferret rescue centre in Otley.

Jackie is a lovely lady. She and her husband have devoted decades to rescuing and helping the creatures they love – their charity is a wonderful cause, if anyone has any spare pounds to donate, by the way – we agreed that I would take her over on Monday morning.

On Sunday afternoon, before my tea, I went to check on Jill and get everything ready to take her to her new home. The cute but increasingly naughty ferret was delighted to see me with a plate of food and fresh water.

She was so delighted that she immediately sank her teeth into my finger again – at least there was no chance I’d forget the third item on my list tomorrow!