Historically, ferrets have been used at various times to run cables.  They
also were used (with dusters attached to harnesses) to clean tubes used
(BEFORE they were used FOR anything) in atomic and nuclear research.  (The
weird things one picks up being married with a guy whose doctorate is in
high energy physics and who has worked for a phone company for over 15
years...)
 
OH, this actually WAS mentioned to the governor of CA by a researcher (not
Steve -- we aren't in that state) specializing in human-computer
interactions during a meeting on the Internet and schools.
[Posted in FML issue 2083]