There seems to be a lot of controversy about this right now, but I think
the most important thing to note is ferrets were kept in great quantity
and used essentially like ferrets in the UK until the 1930s in the US,
and there was no resulting 'American polecat' population resulting
therewith.
 
With the standard of neutering done before the majority of pet ferrets
ever get to a store, I doubt we will ever be in another situation of
Ferretville (a real place, in Ohio) where 35,000 uneutered ferrets were
sent out in a breeding season to various people needing them for rat,
rabbit and other hunting.
 
A local newspaper from Toronto,Canada, where I live, noted during the
second World War, that ferrets were being shipped from the UK to help
bulk up the local population, which were needed to 'subsidise' wartime
rationing.  I feel that any impact rampant ferrets would have had on the
population would have been made evident during their hayday as hunting
animals, and have been as notable as feral cats and dogs of the period
were.  I am strongly disinclinded to believe the current, almost totally
housebound animals are to pose as great a danger as they did 100 years
ago, if any.
 
Melissa Smith (nee Drake)
http://www.blueskunkland.com/ferret/
[Posted in FML issue 4026]