Hello All,
 
First I want to thank Leonard Bottleman for his considered and nice
response to my questions.  Have some more comments to make (of course,
since it has been said I can't keep my mouth shut).
 
I did have to laugh about your ferrets not eating dead meat.  Obviously
this is personality differences in the ferrets.  I have the choice,
especially when eating chicken, of standing up to eat in peace or sharing.
Pookie especially will do "hit and runs" on any meat product anywhere,
anytime.
 
And as far as the cancer issue goes, I will tell everyone my personal
thoughts on this issue.  I honestly believe that the most important factors
are a genetic predisposition to cancer, coupled with exposure to chemical
and toxic substances.  And while some of these things are in all the food
we eat, I think that the more serious exposures come from our environment,
such as cleaning products, closed up houses (much more common here than
overseas, especially with ferrets kept outdoors there) and in pesticides.
I think these are all triggering mechanisms for bad genetic code, and can
also be the mechanism to change that code.
 
Still not convinced, although you did give me some insight.  Talked to a
friend of mine in St. Louis tonight who works at the wildlife park with
raptors (among others).  She said it sounds like the diet of raptors is
being extrapolated to ferrets.  She is a former ferret owner and had them
for over a decade.  She made a couple of points, one major, that I think
everyone should consider on this topic.
 
First, carnivores eat the bone marrow out of bones, not the bones
themselves.  Granted, it is a fine distinction, but one I think folks
should remember.  She also pointed out that cancers or not, ferrets live
much longer as a domesticated animal than their wild relatives do.  And
that by feeding live mice, you are also giving the ferret a source of
bacteria, both good and bad that isn't present in kibble and other foods.
On the herps and raptors, a lot of herps are designed to digest *moving*
food, so it is essential that they are fed live prey.  Raptors do not
digest the bones or hair on their prey, they are coughed back up in
pellets.  So it is a type of fiber for them, after a fashion.
 
Second, she was greatly distressed that trying to reawaken wild behavior
in an animal that is ALREADY having a huge p.r. problem with domestication
could be quite harmful to legalizing ferrets and to how folks view them.
After all, what is the most common thought about large snakes?  "Eww, they
eat things!" And why try to get them to behave more like their wild cousins
anyway?  They are domesticated and should be treated as such.  Because
ferrrets will chase things (hunting instincts) does not mean the instincts
for eating the food is there.  Have had lots of cats that hunted in thirty
years, never had a one that ate what it killed.  Besides, pinkies are
called that because of what they resemble.
 
I have to admit her argument of the public relations front made a big
impact on me.  I fully understand how important this issue is (to me, it is
the only issue).  How much faster would ferrets in bite cases be put down
if someone knew they ate live prey?  As I have said, I don't have a moral
or ethical issue with this.  And the person I talked to doesn't either.
She follows native american religions and has strong beliefs in the natural
order of things.  I just really don't see that it is necessary.
 
Mo Maggie and her Mob of Meat Monsters
"Hey Conan, look here, Ma got beef and bacon on that pizza!"
[Posted in FML issue 2549]