More replies, but we're winding down ;-).
 
[Margaret wrote (all quotes are from her henceforth):]
>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.
 
While it may sound like we're extrapolating a raptor diet for ferrets, we
are not.  It's a fact that ferrets and their ancestors evolved eating small
rodents such as mice.  No extrapolation from other animals is needed to
justify a mouse enhanced diet for ferrets.
 
>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.
 
This is not precisely true.  Carnivores frequently consume bones to get at
the marrow, which is high in fat and much needed calories, but when small
bones are digested (such as when a small animal such as a mouse is
consumed) more than just the marrow is extracted: calcium, phosphorous and
other minerals are extracted as well.
 
>She also pointed out that cancers or not, ferrets live much longer as a
>domesticated animal than their wild relatives do.
 
Mostly as a result of no predation and providing an easy food source, so
older animals don't die when they lose their hunting skills (or slow down
in their reactions to predators).
 
>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.
 
True.
 
>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.
 
Again, this is not completely true: some of the minerals are actually
digested from the bone before they are coughed up or passed through.  The
fur provides the bulk of the roughage.
 
>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.
 
This isn't a "reawakening": it is simply using the already present instinct
and digestive adaptation to eat small rodents.
 
>After all, what is the most common thought about large snakes?  "Eww, they
>eat things!"
 
In most eastern cultures there isn't the wide spread revulsion to snakes
that's prevalent in western culture.  For one thing, the snake is cast in
the role of the devil in the old testament, a type casting of sorts from
which snakes have never recovered.  A lot of people aren't even aware of
what most snakes eat.
 
>And why try to get them to behave more like their wild cousins anyway?
>They are domesticated and should be treated as such.
 
As I've said before, domestication of an animal does not typically alter
the dietary requirements of an animal!  I agree that we should treat
ferrets as domesticated animals, but we obviously disagree on some of the
details on that treatment: in other countries it is not uncommon to allow
pet dogs or cats to hunt and catch their own food - this makes them no less
a pet and no less domestic.
 
>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 too have owned cats for thirty plus years (still do), and my cats do eat
what they catch.  Anecdotal evidence doesn't make for a convincing
argument, although I fall into the trap of using it as well.
 
I'm not sure the pinkie reference is supposed to mean, other than risking
my ferrets associating fingers with baby mice.  As I've repeated many times
before, feeding my ferrets mice has not altered their behavior in any way
other than to make them more active and alert at mouse feeding time.
 
>I have to admit her argument of the public relations front made a big
>impact on me.
 
I can understand this objection, and I don't go around telling folks
(outside of the ferret mailing lists) that I feed mice to my ferrets unless
asked specific questions about my pet ferrets' diets.  Those of us who do
so should educate folks on why we feed our ferrets fresh meat (live or not)
and not give in to the ignorance and hysteria of the masses (if it eats
live prey, it must be vicious).
 
>I just really don't see that it is necessary.
 
In my original post I explained why I think it's necessary for me: of the
three things that control ferret health I can only control two, and diet is
one of them.
 
I definitely agree that environment is the biggest issue, and I work hard
to provide a good environment for my ferrets too.
 
Thanks again for the thoughtful responses.
 
Leonard Bottleman       [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 2550]