I somehow missed the original question, but several people sent the info
to me to make sure I didn't miss it.  Troublemakers.  I use the term "New
Zealand Feral Ferrets" so no one will misunderstand and think I am talking
about ferrets in the USA or anywhere else.  I don't want my statements to
become part of ferret mythology like a) eating bone will kill ferrets, b)
Egyptian domestication, or c) blood-sucking baby killers.
 
The ferrets living in a wild state in New Zealand are the descendants of
the original ferrets bred and released a century ago to control rabbits.
At the same time, some polecats were also released, but not in the same
quanity.  Also, there is some evidence that some of the released ferrets
were polecatXferret hybrids, but the records do not list them in a separate
category so the exact proportion is unknown.  Since then, a large number of
ferrets have been released from fitch farms (accidentally and on purpose),
as well as the occasional lost pet or rabbiting ferret.  I have read or
heard various reports that private releases of both polecats and ferrets
were also done by the private sector, but those are much harder to prove
because of poor records.  So you have a lot of physical evidence that
ferrets were released, some slight physical evidence polecats were released,
but only circumstantial evidence that hybrids were released.  It is safe to
assume the founding population was mostly ferret.
 
Ferrets are not exactly rare, either.  I read one fairly recent report that
said they examined the stomach contents of more than 700 ferrets killed over
a single year from one area.  I'm sure many of those dead ferrets where
entire families and transient juveniles, but still, that is a large sample
from a geographically limited area.  I am sure that ferrets follow the same
pattern of "home range/body-mass/biomass" that all other predators follow,
which would indicate a large predatory base in the area, probably composed
mostly of rabbits and old world mice and rats.
 
But the question runs deeper than if they are ferrets or hybrids.  I am more
convinved that ever that even if those releases were pure blood ferrets, the
animals living in the wild presently are more polecat-like than ferret-like.
As an osteologist, I think I can base that statement on bone morphology.
But as a soulless evolutionist, I can base it on natural selection, which
weeds out those characteristics of domestication, favoring the original
polecat behaviors and morphology.  In other words, even if only pure ferrets
were released, most of them would have died because of their domestic
behaviors, allowing only those that were more "polecat-like" to survive.
Thus the end result is a return to the polecat form as domestication
characters are lost.
 
This question is quite important to those people attempting to overcome
anti-ferret laws, and, if my flaming mailbox is any indication, some people
see the admission of ferrets living in a feral state as bad for ferret
legalization issues.  I disagree.  The little beasties are running around
all over NZ; they are ran over by cars and trapped from under houses.
People know they are there, especially New Zealanders and the CaCa Flushing
Gestapo.  Denial of their existance only undermines our credability.  I feel
the better approach is to admit they are there, regardless of the purity of
the bloodlines, then try to understand how they can survive while still
being ferrets.
 
Only when you do that can you see how it is possible for a ferret to live
in a feral state with all its domestication characters working against it.
That in turn answers the question of possibility of occurence in California.
That is the step the Flushing Gestapo refuses to take, which reduces their
scientific credability to below that of a brain-dead acephalic Neandertal
when discussing the issues.  Personally, I would rather have them look full
of ferret scat than myself, so I admit all facts and investigate from there.
 
The question is quite simple.  Why can ferrets live ferally in NZ but not in
the USA.  Is it climate?  No, many parts of the USA match the NZ life zones,
and there are not any feral ferrets here.  Is it the amount of time?  No,
ferrets have only been on NZ since the 1880s, and they have been in the USA
as long or longer.  Was it the gene pool?  No, ferrets in the USA come from
Britain and Germany for the most part, just like in NZ.  Is it biology?  No,
even if the original ferrets have evolved back towards the polecat, the
original ferrets where not much different than the same original USA ferret.
You can continue down this list, but the only three major differences you
can find are 1) prey items, and 2) lack of competition, and 3) lack of
predation.
 
The prey items are, honestly, the least of the three.  Ferrets eat much more
rabbit in NZ than polecats eat in Europe.  I don't think this factor alone
is preventing ferrets from forming feral colonies in the USA.  This leaves
the final two differences, which are quite significant because they are also
the only two factors which are common in any so-called population of feral
ferrets anywhere in the world.  What it means is, yes ferrets can form
successful feral colonies, providing they have little or no competition and
predators.  With mink and weasels as competitors, and cayotes, foxes and
mink are predators, such conditions to not generally exist in the USA, and
would be almost impossible to find in California.
 
But I never would have known that if I lied to myself or others in denying
the existence of feral ferrets in NZ.  Thier existence on those tiny islands
(not so small, but compared to California, they are a county not a country)
is the KEY to understanding why ferrets can not go feral in CaCa Land.  And
the continued finger-pointing and reactionary knee-jerking responses of the
Flushing Gestapo towards the feral populations in NZ as "proof" ferrets can
become feral in CaCa land is in reality proof of their own incompetence,
self-servingness, and lack of scientific investigation.  If they were a
ball team, I would call them the "Sacramento Stupidheads."  So to answer
the original question, yes, there are feral ferrets in New Zealand, just
as there are Stupidheads in Sacramento.
 
Bob C and 19 MO Furry (not feral) Ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 2248]