AN 11-year-old Bolton boy distraught when his ferret went missing is smiling again -- after he was reunited with his pet.

Andrew Taylor, of Wilmslow Avenue, Sharples, was upset when the ferret, Taz, escaped from his back garden.

Andrew appealed for readers to look out for the friendly ferret in Monday's Bolton Evening News.

His family were inundated with calls from people who had seen stray ferrets, but it was not until Taz had been missing for 16 days that they got a call from a Sharples resident who said Taz was safe and well in his back garden.

And today, the Taylors thanked readers for coming to the rescue.

Mum Susan said: "People have been very caring. We would like to thank everyone who kept a lookout for Taz.

"He is a little bit thinner, but still as tame. It's like he's never been away. Taz has been following us around everywhere since he got back.

"When ferrets are happy they make a little throaty noise, like a gurgle, and Taz has been doing that ever since he got back."

Andrew, a pupil at High Lawn primary school, who had checked the garden every day for the ferret, has not let Taz out of his sight since he came home.

And playful Taz is already back to his usual tricks of climbing, digging and playing ball.

When Taz went missing, Susan's husband Frank, Andrew and daughter Sharon, aged 20, put up posters up all over Sharples appealing for Taz's safe return.