[Moderator's note: This came in a couple of days ago and I missed it at first
so I'm posting it now, a couple of days late. BIG]
 
I have an interest in this thread, not because of any PC sensibility, but
because I live in Mass and we are fighting for legalization.  I think we
need to define what we mean by a "wild" ferret.  I'm willing to suspend my
disbelief that these are not minks, weasels, etc. (for the sake of argument)
and accept that it is possible for a ferret to get or be set loose and
survive for some time on its own.  I wouldn't consider it wild, especially
if it visits barns, houses, or other human sources for food and/or shelter.
 
Wild implies, to me, that an animal is capable of feeding, breeding, and
sheltering itself for generations, without any human contact.  In fact, wild
seems to imply a certain fear for humans as a rule (there are many individual
exceptions, I know, like bears in Yellowstone).  Hunting is partially a learned
behavior and the steady availability of prey is an issue.  The ability to find
shelter in even a temperate climate and avoid being prey to some local hunter
are tough hurdles.  I don't know how a house raised animal can gain the skills
and find the conditions to go truly wild.  Look at the difficulty the
blackfooted ferret is having sustaining itself with considerable human support.
 
The possibility of wild ferrets ravaging the biome is an issue to some ferret
opponents in MA and CA.  They fear the self-sustaining colony that will prey
on poultry (even cows) or endangered species and become the fauna version of
kudsu.  Some stray that has found some way to eek out survival would be an
extreme exception, it seems to me.  To call this "wild" is a mistake, IMHO,
and feeds the fearmongers dreams.  If by chance one of these people saw that
we ferret lovers feel that wild ferrets are real, they would make big use of
it.  I think that a definition of what constitutes a wild animal is as much
the source of controversy as the proper ID of the sighted animal.
 
   ()__()   Till next time.....Rudy the ferlosopher
   /o o )
  o___,
[Posted in FML issue 1186]