THEY'RE adventurous, mischievous and when it comes to wriggling out of tricky situations have the skills of Houdini.

You might even be more familiar with them being proverbially stuck down your trousers.

Ferrets have a habit of getting everywhere.

But members of the Wessex Ferret Club wouldn't have the lovable creatures any other way.

They say that too often the animals, whose closest relatives are weasels, badgers, and minks, are stereotyped as being dirty, smelly and vicious.

Over the past 20 years the club has been trying to educate the public that, in fact, the perfect pets are highly intelligent and very playful.

"They need bags of attention but they are very rewarding animals to have," said one of the club's founding members, Tom Sturgess.

"They are very inquisitive and lovely. If you give them a toy they will play with it and really examine every use for it."

The group was set up after an appeal for ferret enthusiasts to turn up to the Sun Inn, Woolston, on May 18, 1983 appeared in the Echo.

Twenty years later its numbers have swelled from 17 to more than 200, demonstrating the increasing popularity of friendly ferrets.

Past and present members had a chance to reunite for some ferret racing at the Hampshire Country Sports Day at Tichborne Park, near Alresford, yesterday.

Other attractions included a gun dog demonstration, terrier racing, a horn blowing competition and an inter-hunt jump competition.

There was also a rural craft tent and plenty of culinary delights on sale, including home-made honey and jams, in some of the 50 trade stands - 20 more than last year.

Highlights included a parade of hounds from the Hampshire Hunt and a family fun dog show.

More than 5,000 people turned up to the event, which has been going for more than 25 years.

Organiser and Countryside Alliance regional director for Hampshire Tracy Casstles said: "We've had a record number of visitors.

"The government wants to try to stop country sports taking place.

"The success of this event shows how hundreds of people are behind country sports like hunting, shooting, fishing, falconry and ferret racing."