This is Edward Lipinski of Ferrets NorthWest.  This is his effort to clarify
a belief that he's recently adopted, concerning the shallowly masked
"wildness" of the domesticated ferret.  Mr. Lipinski opines that ferrets may
have a greater capability to become feral than he first believed.  That is,
believed from what was posted on the net by scholarly erudites and their
adherents.  Do I understand that their position is simply: No , Never,
Noway, Nohow?  Seems that's the case.  Their theory is that the domesticated
house ferret will never go feral.  It is hoped that Mr. Lipinski's writings
will provoke discussion in this arena that is simple, straightforward,
honest, and without malice or thinly disguised contempt for any position.
 
Previously he cited personal experience of a ferret observed developing
what appeared to be a sudden rage of aggression-like activity just as
soon as the ferret heard the cry of a 2-day old infant, both close up and
a second time when the infant was 30 or so feet distant and beyond a
closed door.
 
The first aggression was told to Mr. Lipinski by the father and mother; the
second was witnessed by Mr. Lipinski in the home.  It is Mr. Lipinski's
contention that the second aggression was clearly a response by the ferret
that could have taken place only as a result of the ferret hearing the
infant's sudden cries.  The first instance can not be clearly the same,
since the ferret was trying to climb the new mother's leg just as she came
into the apartment from the hospital with the crying infant in her arms.  .
After biting the mother's ankle a number of times, the ferret was picked up
by the father and taken to the ferret's own room, a bedroom, at the other
end of the apartment.  The stimulus for the ferret may have been three-fold;
i.e. sound, sight, and smell (of the infant).  The second episode could only
be auditory.
 
The aggressive response by the ferret, especially in the second instance,
where only the sound of the crying infant suddenly stimulated the ferret to
try to dig under the door, clicked a response in Mr. Lipinski that instantly
connected to his hobby of predator calling.
 
When predator calling, one uses a mouth-blown call device that simulates
the scream of an animal suffering severe pain.  Any predator within ear
shot answers that scream (usually a series of three blasts) by immediately
coming into the caller to investigate the possibility of getting a free
meal by stealing it from whatever other animal has caught, say a rabbit,
and is devouring it alive.  The predator may then be shot, either with
rifle/revolver fire or with a camera, depending largely just how
aggressively it is running in to you.  Suffice it to say, Mr. Lipinski
knows animal response to sounds, and the sound of a sreaming rabbit is not
too dissimilar to that of a 2-day old infant.
 
Mr. Lipinski is certain that the response of the ferret in the remote
bedroom was without a doubt that of a predator going after prey - prey in
this case being the infant.
 
Consider 1. We don't know how deeply rooted in the ferret's psyche is
its response to prey, whether stimulated by sound, smell, sight, either
individually or any combination thereof.  One thing here: we don't know if
it's inate curiosity or a surge to kill that's motaviting the ferret.
 
2. We don't know the true basic nature of the ferret since the vast
majority have been butchered prepubertic by the ferret mills and by owners
who insist that ferrets be fixed as soon as possible.  All of us know that
the behavior of a fixed ferret is quite different compared to an intact
ferret, the latter considered more aggressive.
 
3. It will appear that most ferret owners would rather drink vinegar than
think ill of their pet, and thereby will tend to discount opinions that
denigrate their emotionally held beliefs and hopes.  It's tantamount to
poking holes in their religion.
 
4. We know that a constantly directed evolutionary pressure on any living
organism will produce survivors who will be better able to adapt and use
the resources at hand to productively maintain themselves.  WHY SHOULD THE
FERRET BE EXCLUDED FROM THIS BIOLOGICAL PHENOMENON GIVEN SUFFICIENT TIME
AND A FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT?  EVERY FERTILIZATION IS A STEP CHANGE.
 
5. The revelation given by this ferret's behavior swings me more than ever
before to the belief that some ferrets are much more likely to survive in
the wild than I'd heretofore thought possible.  Why?  Maybe they are really
closer to "the wild" than we ever dreamed.  Then, again you may disagree.
Do so.
 
EL
[Posted in FML issue 2257]