Hilton is distracted at school: his head is always filled with animal facts, and his parents are usually worried about money, and his dad's fondness of gambling. For a change of scenery he is off to spend the summer on his Uncle Norbert's ramshackle ferret farm. The business is failing, but the root of the problem is a rival breeder, Huxley, renowned for stealing prize-winning animals. Soon, Norbert's ferrets are winning prizes again, but is his rival, Huxley, up to no good?