[log in to unmask] (Chris Lewis) wrote:
 
>Urban wrote:
>
>>But in Sweden it's not so easy. In fact, my suggestion that we
>>call them "frett" (like in Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands)
>>made it an inflamed question, as some say it's only correct to
>>call albinos that.
 
>[What do they say about "tam-iller" applied to albinos?]
 
This is where it gets interesting: One source says that most of
them are "albino tam-iller", but that there is actually one
breeder who has got an isolated population of "genuine frett".
(I'm trying to find out why and how they make this distinction.)
 
The German literature I've read makes a distinction between
polecats, ferret-polecats and ferrets, so it's not impossible
that our ferrets are "ferret-polecats" in other Europeans' eyes.
Hopefully this won't cause any problems when (if) we join the
EU.
 
[The british make the same distinction between polecats,
"fitch" (sometimes "fitch ferrets") and ferrets.  If anything,
it's tam-iller that corresponds to fitch/ferret-polecats.  Genuine
"Frett"?  It is possible to get albinos to breed true if you're
vicious enough in eliminating breeding stock.  Doesn't make it
another species.  It really is absurd - albinoism is a genetic
"accident", not a species characteristic.]
 
--
 Urban Fredriksson  [log in to unmask]
 
[Posted in FML issue 0867]