I was thinking over this past spring break about why our local ferrets
seem to have much higher cancer rates than most of the world.  In
previous issues, suggestions were made that it's due to bad breeding,
early spay/neutering, or an improper diet.  Well, as I was staying up
very, very late working on a take-home math test, it hit me that nobody
had ever suggested improper exposure to light as a possible source.
 
Ferrets have definite seasonal trends, shedding into winter and summer coats
twice yearly, and like most animals they exhibit a definite circadian rythm
as well.  Here in the US, most ferrets seem to be kept as housepets, living
indoors under controlled light conditions, whereas from what I've heard
most European ferrets live in outdoor pens under natural lighting conditions,
with the attendant seasonal variations and normal day/night cycle.  The
hormonal imbalances our unintentional meddling with their natural periodicity
might give rise to strikes me as at least as likely a cancer source as
a diet lacking in raw, whole rabbits. :-)
 
E.S., Hershey and Nestle'  (NY)
 
[Posted in FML issue 0769]