Farmer Mike Gallavin was out and about in his property near Hampden and discovered some unusual looking creatures in his traps.
There were ferrets — golden ones — which were a very strange sight.
"I knew they were ferrets but I could not believe the colour. They were golden. I’ve never seen anything like it," he said.
"The neighbour had said someone had had ginger kittens under the hedge a while ago but it must have been the ferrets."
He has also caught possums, feral cats and stouts in his traps over the years as he tries to control their numbers on his property.
"A guy used to breed them [ferrets] in Hampden years ago and perhaps they are from there."
He had frozen the animals and might get them mounted.
Ferrets are not strictly pests in New Zealand though they are classified as that in some areas.
Otago Regional Council environmental implementation manager Libby Caldwell said ferrets were an unwanted organism under the Biosecurity Act. This means that permission to move, sell, breed, exhibit or release ferrets is required from the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI).
A ferret could be kept as a pet but public acceptance of that had reduced.
Ferrets were farmed for a short period about 40 years ago but the Asian market collapsed and farming fell away.
University of Otago zoology professor Philip Seddon said unusual colours on animals did occur from time to time.
It could come from a variant in the animal or an animal reacting to their environment.
He said it was not unheard of in ferrets.
