Alexandra wrote:
>My interest (I should say growing concern) is with the ferrets ongoing
>attempts at domestication.  Domestication of what, you might reasonably
>ask.  Why, the domestication of *us*, of course.
 
LOL!
 
You have actually hit on one of the primary questions of domestication.
How much of domestication is based upon us originally altering the
animal's way of life and how much is based upon the animals themselves
having in the past chosen to live in a cooperative arrangement with
humans.  Given that each is possible to varying extents with an
assortment of species that also does get into how the cooperative
arrangement alters humans.
[Posted in FML issue 4732]