>>Also, how many times have we heard on this list of someone finding a
>>mink and thinking it was a ferret?
 
>OFTEN!  And short tailed weasels, and long tailed weasels, and... Heck,
>I even recall someone called for a juvie that was either a martin or
>fisher once but I don't think that report was here, ditto a report for
>a shrew in a window well.
 
Hell, my mum was absolutely convinced she saw an otter, and when she
described it, it was definatly a ... small dog.  ("It had this long tail
it was wagging in the water and largish ears!").  Another man I knew was
convinced he has been attacked by an otter, but a cursory discription
discovered it was a mink (and with babies, which he was trying to pet!
Moron).
 
Even my friend most familiar with animals, as a wildlife illustrator,
asked me to ID something he'd seen on the end of his dock, which was a
mink.
 
I've found that people just don't seem to have a clue about animal
identification.  I mean, raccoons are common as much here, as are
squirrels, but people seem to think my ferrets are one of the above.
 
Oi!
 
Melissa Smith (nee Drake)
[Posted in FML issue 4030]