From the start, things did not bode well for the ferrets.

There were questions, in concerned tones, about the “unique skeletal structure” that allows the creatures “to squeeze through very small crevices.” The poor track record of ferret-infant relations — bites, injuries, occasional reports of a death — kept cropping up.

“They seem,” a frowning health official said, “to be uniquely problematic.”

So it was that the New York City Board of Health, given the opportunity to repeal a 16-year ban on keeping the musky mammals as pets, chose instead on Tuesday to side with the prohibitionists.

The measure would have allowed the playful, if sharp-toothed, animals to scurry into the ranks of other domesticated city pets, albeit with requirements for rabies shots, outdoor leashes and forced sterilization “to reduce aggressiveness,” according to a presentation by city officials.

But the plan was defeated, with only three board members voting in favor, short of the six required for passage. Two members opposed it, and five abstained — including two members appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is typically seen as a friend to animals (with the notable exception of groundhogs).