Sukie can correct me if I am wrong, but I think there is some
misunderstanding of what she wrote:

>From:    Sukie Crandall <[log in to unmask]>
>Past selective pressures DO narrow what is best under natural
>conditions for a species IN YOUTH AND IN REPRODUCTIVE YEARS, but once
>a ferret is beyond normal reproductive years there is not a natural
>selection situation which defines what is healthiest.

I interpreted this to mean that a wild animal eats a diet that is
optimal for having the greatest number of offspring during its prime
reproductive years, which is not necessarily a diet that is optimal for
longevity, since evolutionary pressure is concerned much less with how
long an individual lives and far more with how many individuals there
are. A very high fat diet, to make up a random example, might be very
nourishing during the reproductive years and cause heart attacks as an
animal ages--that diet won't be selected against, because the offspring
have already been produced before the end effect of that diet is felt
by the individual, and thus there is no pressure to move away from that
diet.

I have no strong opinion one way or the other about raw diet, etc--in a
perfect world, I would feed raw/slightly cooked, but in this imperfect
world I feed Innova Evo Ferret kibble, which is the best compromise I
can arrive at for the lives of all those in my household. I just used
to be an Evolution 101 teaching assistant and hoped to provide some
clarification :)

Regina

 "Is that my business? Well, what is my business? Do I know? Did I ever
know? Let's not go into that. You're not human tonight, Marlowe. Maybe
I never was or ever will be... Maybe we all get like this in the cold
half-lit world where always the wrong thing happens and never the
right." --Raymond Chandler, The Little Sister

[Posted in FML 5427]