Hi everyone,
 
Whilst ferrets are routinely used for hunting and as pets in New Zealand
(recently they have been banned but I'm sure there are many owners out
their hiding their pets) they are HUGE pests due to being released to
control the rabbit population a large and thriving wild ferret population
has been formed and is hunting non target native birdlife.  Over 5000
were initially released and these ferrets were crossed with wild European
polecats, to make matters worse large fur farms released many ferrets as
business became less profitable.  This is why you'll see many articles on
ferrets being culled in NZ and why Ferrets are banned in QLD, Australia
and some other places in the world as these countries look at NZ and use
that to claim ferrets are a threat to native wildlife.
 
Some information (VERY negative towards ferrets..  some information I
believe is incorrect and included to encourage negative emotions towards
ferrets)
http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/dawnchorus/ferret/index.asp
 
~ Canni
[Posted in FML issue 5322]