A few more questions I've finally got around to answering.  My wonderful
monitor bit the dust, and I finally located a spare I could borrow until the
beast is back, and am back online (From home, that is).  So I looked in the
mailbox and found a rather large pile of e-mail had collected in the last
week.  I'll wade through it ASAP, (I downloaded it into a cool word program
BIG turned me on to, so give me time and I'll respond when I can.)
 
Q: I've heard through a mutual friend that you don't think the Blackfooted
Ferret program will work....can you explain?
 
A: It's a government program.  Need I say more?
 
Actually, its because the BBF is a specialized carnivore, and they are
extremely sensitive to environmental changes.  The changes in this instance
are the destruction of the habitat that feeds their prey, as well as the
systematic elimination of the prey species, prairie dogs.
 
A long standing myth is that predators control the number of prey animals,
but in fact, the reverse is true.  If the population of prey species drops,
so do the numbers of predators that feed on them.  The main reason the BBF
is so rare is because developers, farmers and ranchers have systematically
destroyed prairie dog towns.  They weren't after the BBF; they wanted the
land for housing, pest-free crops, and grazing land without potholes.  When
the populations of prarie dogs dropped, so did the BBF.
 
But I see lots of prairie dogs, you might counter.  Sure you do, but
remember it takes alot of prairie dogs to feed the BBF.  They have to make
enough babies to replace themselves, as well as feed the BBF and other
predators.  The amount of land utilized by prarie dogs is significantly
reduced from even 50 years ago.  And it is getting worse each year.  As the
prairie dog population drops, many other predators just switch to other
game, but the BBF is specialized and cannot.  They just starve out, or have
numbers so reduced they can no longer maintain their population because
mates are too far away.
 
My problem is not with "saving" the BBF; my problem is what are we going to
do once we have?  Are we going to release them into the same situation that
caused them to nearly go extinct?  Until these questions are scientifically
addressed, the only viable alternative is to keep them in a captive breeding
program.  At the present, I see no hope for a restored population in any
future.
 
I recently viewed a publication called "Varmint Masters Magazine." I counted
at least 20 ads aimed at prairie dog shooting, including several t-shirts
showing prairie dogs being blow to bits.  One ad boasted "...unlimited
shooting on one of the largest dog towns in Montana..." Unless prairie dog
towns are protected, you can release thousands of BBF into the wild, all
properly trained by their chinese cousins, at a cost of millions of dollars,
and it won't mean Ca Ca.  They will die of starvation, lack of enough
territory to allow dispersal yet allow reproductive access, and "accidental"
shooting.  In other words, the loss of the BBF is a symptom of a terrible
disease; replacing the BBF without curing the disease is like giving someone
aspirin to reduce their fever when they are dying from the plague.
 
Q: What is the relationship between ferrets, the BBF, martins, fishers,
skunks and weasels?
 
A: Not good, but they were on Montel Williams last week trying to work it
out.  I heard the skunks think the fishers stink.
 
Well, they are all mustelids.  The family Mustelidae has been around for a
very long time; it is probably the oldest extant (living) family in the
Carnivora, which means their are lots of different subgroups within the
group.  Weasels include weasels, mink, ferrets and polecats, Martins include
martins and fishers, skunks include all types of skunks, badgers include
badgers and wolverine, and otters include sea and river otters.  Sometimes
martins are grouped within the badgers, usually with the weasels, and lately
they are being kept separate.
 
Mustelids are found worldwide, (except Australia, Antarctica, and most
oceanic islands), and are perhaps the most successful of all the carnivores.
They include 25 genera, and about 70 species.  In terms of ferrets, their
closest relatives would be the European polecat and the steppe polecat, with
the most probable ancestor being the European polecat because it has the
same number of chromosomes.  The steppe polecat goes by several common
names, one of which is the Chinese polecat, which are being used in the BBF
program.  This beastie can sucessfully breed with the BBF, producing viable,
reproducing offspring.  Skulls of this polecat have been recovered in
Alaska, dating between 12 and 10 thosand years ago.  Some have proposed that
the BBF is a subspecies of the steppe polecat, not unreasonable.  Others say
they are different species and that the speciation event coincides with the
beginning of the Holocene and the flooding of the landbridge between Asia
and North America.
 
Outside of the lab, where even human and mouse genes have been combined, the
only mustelid shown capable of breeding with the domesticated ferret has
been the European polecat.  Could it happen?  Sure, and I could win the
lottery tomorrow.  But I wouldn't bet on it...
 
Mo' Bob and the 18 Skunk Wannabes (Missing Gus)
[Posted in FML issue 1712]