>From:   Juliana <[log in to unmask]>
>
>I was contacted by a couple who wanted to adopt one of our fosters.
>When I inquired about their ferret knowledge, I was informed that the
>gentleman did because he was a native Argentinean (from Mendosa) where
>"ferrets live in the wild."  He said that ferrets are called "hurones"
>there & that they grow to 15 lbs.  Also that they're popular pets, but
>nobody buys them.  They gave me the following web pages, but I can't
>read them.
>
>http://groups.msn.com/hurones/col.msnw
>http://www.geocities.com/fotosaves/FotosMamiferos/FotosCarnivora.html
>
>The 1st page looks like personal pets.  But the 2nd site looks like
>hurones (ferrets) are listed as native carnivores. ...
>
>Juliana Quadrozzi
 
Well, Juliana, I'm not Argentine, and my Spanish is more rudinentary than
I'd like, but I'm a whiz with Google and AltaVista's Babelfish service.
(www.altavista.babelfish.com)
 
I believe this gentleman to be confused.  I looked at the MSN Groups
site, and one of the pages was dedicated to a test to see if ferret
ownership was right for you before you _purchased_ one.  Perhaps he's
getting ferts confused with the animal which is shown on the GeoCities
page - a Patagonian skunk, which can indeed get to 15 pounds.
 
The information is given as "Familia: Mustelidae (Hurones, Zorrinos)"
(Family: Mustelidae: Ferrets & Skunks), and the picture is most
definately one of Pepe le Pew's close cousins.  Skunks live in the wild,
are highly adaptable to urban areas, and supposedly make good pets, if
you get the scent glands removed.  ("Hey - no chemical warfare in the
house!")
 
Personal opinion: the gent needs to have his mustelids un-muddled before
adopting.
 
(My apologies if this seems disjointed; I'm posting at 4AM)
~Becca and the  " *yaaaawwn* why's mom still _awake_?" crew
[Posted in FML issue 4752]