I was discussing ferrets with people on a Usenet newsgroup,
when someone posted info from a book by Muriel Beadle: _The
Cat, History, Biology, and Behaviour_.  It said that the ancient
Greeks did not keep cats, but kept ferrets instead, and that
the word _ailouros_ (in ailurophile: cat-lover, and ailurophobe:
cat-hater) originally meant "ferret", but was mistranslated or
something.  The person who posted this was from New Zealand, so
I don't know where the book can commonly be found.  Anyone have
any other info on this?
 
A cute side-note:  The poster of this info is a cat owner, and
we had discussed how cat things get used for ferrets, making
ferrets "pseudo-cats" at times.  Well, he suggested that this
means that cats are really honorary ferrets, rather than the
opposite! :)  Note:  I like other pets too, and have owned dogs,
cats, fish, newts, an anole lizard, and hamsters.  But ferrets
have a special place in my heart.
 
Happy ferreting!
Denise, plus Rocko and Randall, and Grumpy the hamster
 
 /\\    ____  ,^-o,  [log in to unmask]
   ``-,'    `-';~~   "Ferrets are kittens with leather jackets
     .',-'~`../'      and no fear!" - John "Newdad" Reed
      `~~    `~~
[Posted in FML issue 0997]