>Maybe it's been bred out of them since >the days of hunting with ferrets.
 
I'm afraid I would have to disagree with the above statement.  When our
girl Noodles ferret was living in my son's apartment, one of the roommates
kept two LARGE Boa Constrictors.  He fed rats, and mice to the snakes
(disgusting!).  A breeder rat was kept in an individual cage.  One day
while the roomies wwere gone , my sweet little - less than a pound - eight
month old silver mitt - managed to open that rat cage and tore that rat to
shreds.  My son thought it was quite incredible.  Noodles has been living
with us for the last nine months and coexists peacefully (more or less)
with three cats, a dog and another ferret.  She has never even playfully
nipped any of us - apparently rodents do bring out some instint in her.
[Posted in FML issue 1337]