Reference of the day:
 
Harry V. Thompson and Carolyn M. King (editors)
"The European Rabbit: The History and Biology of a Successful Colonizer"
1994 Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York and Tokyo.
 
Ok, ok, this book is almost entirely dedicated to those waskoly wabbits,
there are bits and pieces of ferret wisdom contained on its pages.  The book
basically documents the spread of rabbits (mostly by human assistance)
throughout the world.  While I haven't done an extensive nor critical review
of the book, the portions I have read are quite informative and accurate.
 
In particular, Ca Ca land people should read p.  131 (regarding the
introduction of rabbits into Australia): "Ferrets (Mustela furo) have been
used many years to catch rabbits but despite thousands of accidental
releases they have not established feral populations even in those areas
where rabbits were very abundant, probably due to lack of alternative prey
when rabbits stop breeding."
 
The significance of this passage becomes apparent when you realise 1) The
ferret cannot establish itself in a damaged ecosystem despite a lack of
competition and predators and lots of introduced natural prey, 2) these
ferrets are whole, that is, having all their goodies yet they could not
establish a population, and 3) ferrets are presumably domesticated polecats,
and are still subject to needing an environment originally adapted to by the
polecat.  BTW, looking at the included maps, I've been to the places
described as heavily populated by rabbits, and where most of the accidental
ferret releases took place (Thickest in the south and west, up towards the
deserts and along the coast.  [very basic description of the many maps]) I
remember being quite taken back by the similarity of the environment to that
in California.  Of course, if you really know the Ca Ca state, and it's
tremendous natural diversity, you can say that for just about any place you
visit (I got Monica mad at me for saying Calgary looked like the central
valley and Banif looked like the Sierras.  She got even madder when she
asked if she looked like a beach bunny and I didn't answer...).  Still, if
you've seen the unspoiled portions of the southern central valley and parts
of SW Australia, the similarities would impress you.  Oh yeah, notice the
use of "Mustela furo."
 
Pretty good for just a few lines, eh?
 
Mo' Bob and the 18 Evolutionary Dead-ends (Missing Gus)
[Posted in FML issue 1733]