New Zealand is absolutely wonderful, especially the warm and friendly
people. For those of you lucky enough to have bicycled from San Jose to
Mt. Hamilton, the scenic areas seen a few miles before approaching the
foot of the road leading up to Lick Observatory and into Del Puerto
Canyon remind me very much of what I am seeing here. Well, no manzanita
or live oak, but the general overall impression.

I am staying this week with Dr. Carolyn King, one of the most respected
mustelid experts in the world, and I will be using her residence as my
home base while on the North Island. She authored "The Handbook on New
Zealand Mammals," now in 2nd edition, and the widely regarded, "The
Natural History of Weasels and Stoats. Ecology, Behavior, and
Management," also now in 2nd edition. Dr. King has opened her home and
mind to me, and I have to say she has worked very hard to make this
expedition a success. I simply cannot thank her enough. The opportunity
to walk from my guest bedroom to her living room to ask a question
about mustelids is like a dream come true!

I have learned a very interesting new bit of information; I will be
photocopying and converting to PDF a thesis that investigates the
visual range of ferrets, finding some can see into the infrared, well
past our own visible light limit. The subject came up accidentally.
I was being probed about my knowledge of ferrets (gently and in a
non-threatening way), and I mentioned I thought they should be able to
see the blues and violets, and the reds maybe into infrared. She asked
why, and I told her about the recent glut of papers on ferret retinas,
but also because polecats were crepuscular, and seeing red wavelengths
would be useful at dusk (warmer colors), while the blues would be
helpful at dawn (cooler colors). I'd explain this better, but I will
have to read the paper in depth and my research books remain in
Missouri. I'll be more en -light-ening after I return (hard work, but
a pun).

I also did my first feral ferret necropsies yesterday; a dozen of them.
I was struck by the general excellent health of all the specimens. They
were also huge, dark sables with a bit of a Siamese point to them. The
females were generally larger than many males I see in the USA. The
feral males are as large as any ferret seen in any show. If any of
these ferrets had been at most shows in the Americans, they might not
have won anything (probably would), but they would have made quite a
stir. The muscle tone on these feral animals was outstanding, and the
teeth were extremely clean, with no damage or significant wear, and
sharp! On my heath index they scored 10/10, fat deposited scored 10/10,
teeth scored 10/10, and the body mass/length ratio showed they were
"larger and more muscular than expected." To give you a clue, *my*
ferrets generally score 9/10 on the health index, and only Samson
gets the "larger and more muscular than expected" rating!

I've taken a lot of photos; this trip is going to become one of my
best powerpoint shows ever. My future talks will have some outstanding
photos and information.

I haven't seen feral ferret behavior yet, but next week I will be
visiting a world expert on that subject as well.

The rest of this working week has me in the lab. This coming weekend is
a big holiday in New Zealand, and I will be visiting ferret people and
meeting their pets. I will also spend a day stalking feral ferrets in
the wild.

I haven't had much time answering emails; but I will try to catch up
later tonight (NZ time, not yours).

New Zealand people (both islands): Please email me for a visit. I have
left my weekends open for the most part. For the next three weeks I
will be in Hamilton or Taupo for much of my time, *BUT* I have a rental
car (a cheap P.O.S.) and have almost adapted to an entire island of
people driving on the wrong side of the road (now, if I can only get
used to NZ$1.77/liter gas!). I am willing to go anywhere to further
this research and meet your ferrets, collect their DNA, take a few
measurements, ask a few questions, and do a health check. I am trying
to keep the nasty stuff and lab work during the week, and travel and
meet during weekends as much as possible, but I am very flexible and
will change accordingly.

Thanks to all my friends who have shown great support and help getting
this project off and running. It has already been worth it!

Bob C [log in to unmask]

[Posted in FML 5917]