My ferrets and I got a big chuckle out of the guy in Massachusetts who
thinks ferrets should remain illegal in California because of the
"Mediterranean climate and life there." That's a good one -- the whole
state's been taken over by eucalyptus trees ever since they imported
them from Australia. Farmers love them, especially citrus farmers,
because they make good windbreaks. California does still have some
indigenous plants, like the Ponderosa pine, the oak, and the sycamore,
but take a look the next time you visit -- you'll see a huge diversity
of things, and they are not all native to the region.
 
And as for non-native animals, some of those do very well, too, like the
parrots that someone accidentally let go several years ago in Monrovia.
They did so well they've grown into a colony and they fly around wild to
this day, making a huge racket wherever they go. You thought crows were
loud -- they've got nothing on these guys!
 
I could see one potential threat -- if ferrets could somehow survive in
the wild by eating what's left of the already endangered desert tortoise
eggs. Of course, that's assuming they could live long enough without
water and food in a blistering hot desert to find one -- and as those of
us with domestic ferrets know, that's extremely unlikely. But the
blackbirds (or is it ravens) that are eating their eggs are having a
free-for-all because they get to eat the trash from the dumps in the
Lancaster/Palmdale area and multiply to numbers they never had in the
past, but that's OK because it's considered inhumane to destroy them.
 
Mediterranean climate and life -- you can throw that one out the window.
 
                        Linda, Espie, Frankie, Lucky Charm, and Munchie
[Posted in FML issue 1118]