I was very suprised to read the following portions of a response to someones
questions regarding Squeaky Toys.  Everything that I have read up to this
point has emphasized the fact that Ferrets DO NOT have "natural" hunting
instincts, that they are Domesticated animals and have been for YEARS.
Isn't this response and the referrals to hunting instincts, prey, preditor
misused in this case.  Also, aren't these types of comments apt to give the
"other side" ammunition to their unfounded adversity to the little fuzzies?
 
Just curious if anyone else was suprised by the statements or if it's just
me being sensitive!  No offense to Max, (portions of his response follows),
just throwing in my two cents.
 
>he grabs the toy and does the neck breaking head shake common to preditory
>animals.  i.e. grab and shake really hard which leaves the prey stunned.
>Ferrets and other preditors probably focus in on the sound as a localization
>signal.  Somewhere in his genetic heritage my ferret probably has a dim
>racial memory of associating hunting with this sound.  It's funny because it
>really looks like a reflex response since he goes into his attack and all of
>a sudden stops and sorta looks surprised to find himself biting me.
[Posted in FML issue 2080]