To Jenna
 
I think perhaps someone was winding you up about toys for animals... my dog
has rather too many toys, we're always falling over them, the ferrets also
have been known to stash them away.  The pet stores in the UK are well
stocked with toys for all kinds of pets.
 
The general public in the UK do tend to regard ferrets as nasty, vicious,
smelly animals - that's one reason why I and other ferret welfares and
clubs attend country shows, fetes etc. with our ferrets.
 
We get members of the public to stroke the ferrets and in some cases hold
them.  After spending a bit of time with various folk, just talking to
them about ferrets, informing them that ferrets have been domesticated a
couple of thousand years and that the Romans probably introduced them into
England, most people leave the ferret display with an entirely different
view about ferrets.  The other reason why I attend shows is to raise funds
for the welfare.
 
I guess that some folk from England and Germany might get a bit confused
between the ferret and the polecat - I suppose ferret keepers in the UK
don't really help matters by referring to a polecat coloured ferret as a
"polecat", even some ferret keepers are confused!  We do have wild polecats
in the UK - Germany also has them, OK CaCa Fish & Gestapo (BTW have you
still got the link from your web site to the NFWS site?) they are native
fauna and aren't the same as ferrets, which are domesticated.  Even the
RSPCA has great difficulty in differentiating between polecats and ferrets
- write to them on the subject of ferrets and you get a reply from their
*Wildlife* Officer.  Perhaps the RSPCA and Ca FGD were educated at the same
college of stupidity.  In fact it has been known for some RSPCA telephone
operators to tell people who find ferrets to release them back into the
wild as they'll be alright:-( Yes the RSPCA are definitely suffer from the
same level of stupidity as Ca FGD!
 
Bob C when you come over to England next year would you like to meet some
hybrids?  I reckon I could arrange for you to see them - however, I don't
think you'll be able to handle them.
 
Sheila
Bolton Ferret Welfare.
Membership Secretary & Editor of The National Ferret Welfare Society.
Web Site: www.btinternet.com/~sheila/ferrets.htm  last update 8 October 1999
Waiting at Rainbow Bridge: Jill, Deanna Troy, Cameron, Carnath, Button,
Bill, Bobby, Jasper, Inga, Holly & Fergle
The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of the NFWS.
[Posted in FML issue 2891]