This is my first post the the FML, having listened and watched for over a
year.  I'm recently relocated to California, hence the Anonymous address.
 
I've been watching the California events and the BFF events with much
interest.  I'd like to convey one more source of ferret misinformation:
the San Francisco Zoo.
 
This past weekend I went to the zoo, and in the *Children's Zoo* (of all
places!) there were two "petting locations" for ferrets.  At the first, I
probed a little bit to determine their position.  I was told that ferrets,
if they got loose, would kill native wildlife and be harmful on the
vegetation.  I noted that the domestic ferret is not wild, and likely
would not survive in the wild.  I was told that they would adapt.  I noted
that there are no feral colonies of ferrets in the 47 legal states, and I
was brushed off.  At the second location, someone else asked about owning
ferrets and was given the same speech, in broken-record fashion.  They are
clearly brainwashed and spreading misinformation all over this state..
The ferrets they were displaying were extremely well behaved, though one
did just want nothing more than to dig in the wood chips..:-)
 
While I'm on the subject of ferret survival in the wild, just why is it
that the HSUS, in official statements regarding the BBF release, states
that it is "extremely unlikely that any of these animals would survive as
long as 24 hours", while Rachel Lamb told Hattie Kaufman that "ferrets
that escape into suburban or rural settings do pose a real danger to
small mammals and birds." The wild ferret is not suited for the wild, but
the domestic one would rapidly multiply and kill the natives?!
 
-Anon
[Posted in FML issue 1219]