THEY might be better known for dashing down rabbit holes, but ferret Cameron has a more unusual way of chilling out.

Cameron likes nothing better than to ride around on his skateboard - with a little help from owner Sheila Crompton.

He is one of 36 ferrets that live with Sheila at Bolton Ferret Welfare, and who regularly travel round the country showing taking part in races and country fairs.

Some have escaped from their owners and got lost, some have been given up by people who can't cope with them any more - and some are simply dumped.

Cameron was found wandering around the Oldhams Estate, and brought to Sheila.

She said: "We started in about 1994 when we found a ferret wandering around in the front street. No-one would take him in, so we kept him, and before we knew it we were a rescue."

Some of the ferrets Sheila passes on to JCV Ferret Rescue, in Wigan, and some she rehomes, both as pets and as working ferrets.

"They're becoming very popular as pets," Sheila, who is 68, says. "They're fun, like a cat that remains a kitten - they're always up for a game.

"People who've got ferrets don't have ornaments. Or pot plants. Say you've got a CD collection, a ferret will rearrange it - and a ferret's way of rearranging things is to pull them on to the floor, scatter them about, and leave them.

"They will try and escape though, and you can't let them do that because a lot of ferrets have absolutely no sense of direction."

Sheila says that on occasion they're even partial to a bit of a tipple - although they're not very good drinkers.

"I had a friend once who wandered why her ferret was staggering round all over the place," she says. "It turned out that it was getting into the cupboards and had found an apple that had started to go off and was fermenting - the ferret was getting drunk!"

Cameron and pals will be appearing at this year's Bolton Music Showcase, at Leverhulme Park on July 26, as well as at a number of shows around the country.