>I've heard of various cross-breedings done lately.  I'd get in touch
>with the breeder to find out if it is a pure ferret or crossed with
>something else.
 
This is a very good idea to ask ANY breeder your considering buying from.
You'd be surprised who (as in some of the most respected breeders) are
mixing wild animals into our domestic ferrets.  I am personally appalled
by this hybrid breeding, but many breeders are arguing it makes healthier
and longer lived 'ferrets.' That's not the point.  Since when do these
breeders decide they can suddenly change the ferret standard??  What
gives them rights to change our domestic ferret?
 
What is the price we'd pay for breeding 'wild' into our domestic ferret??
Will our domestic ferrets suddenly be able to survive in the wild?  How
will this effect California ferret lovers who have been fighting a
ongoing battle to legalize ferrets?  What price are we willing to pay for
healthier and longer lived?  Don't get me wrong, I want my babies to live
forever, but I'm not willing to give up their domestication for a wilder
version of the ferret.  I have polecat crosses and they are the most ill
tempered ferrets I have EVER had.  They are unpredictable, aggressive,
bite happy, constantly anxious, cage pacers (before and AFTER a very long
playtime), cage aggressive and the list goes on-breeders like to call
this 'sassy' or feisty' behavior, but who are they fooling really?  They
are no longer our pets, they are becoming captive wild animals.
 
>Someone just thought it would be a novel idea to breed them and sell
>them when they belong in the wild
 
Exactly.
 
PS I really don't think a short tail means hybrid breeding.  Often kits
loose their tails to a anxious mother who is trying to get them 'out' and
accidentally bites the tail off.  But what they hay, gets a subject that
is often hidden out in the open.
 
[KN]
[Posted in FML issue 3891]