As mentioned earlier, I will be driving to Pasadena CA at the end of
March to give a talk to some sweet ferret people.  I will be driving
through Texarkana, Dallas/Ft.  Worth, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso,
Tucson, Phoenix, Yuma, and Barstow.  On the return trip, I will be
driving past Las Vegas, Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Amarillo, and OK City.
Many people and clubs have already asked for me to stop to visit and talk
ferret, but this notice is the last-chance.  If you want me to stop, then
you have to ask me to stop by Tuesday when I set up my driving itinerary.
After Tuesday, I will contact everyone with a time and date (It will be
Bob Time, which means I am never late!).
 
Also, I'll be running around Europe in November.  I have a chance to
measure ferret and polecat skeletons so I can finally wind up the years++
research I've done on diferences between the domesticated ferret and the
polecat.  I'll be seeing the insides of many a dusty museum and breathing
in the sweet vapors of several European bone labs and hopefully I can
find the time to visit some zoos.  I am EXTREMELY interested in meeting
with European FML members.  I have made (or am still confirming) visits
to Poland, France, England, Germany, and the Netherlands.  Some times
I'll be renting a car, other times I'll be taking the rail or flying.
While the trip is still months away, because I have to request specific
dates to enter some of the museums and universities, I need to know as
soon as possible if people want me to stop by.
 
Lastly, I am trying to find sponsors to help fund a trip to New Zealand.
I have made a rather notable discovery in the skeletons of New Zealand
feral ferrets that would be of tremendous value to legalization efforts
in California, but I need a larger, more random sample.  If you have
some funds you would love to throw away on science and you want to help
scientifically prove ferrets are NOT feral risks, drop me an email and
I'll give you more information.  I hope to get enough private sponsors to
pick up the costs of airfare, rental cars, and an occasional hot dog and
Tui beer, otherwise I'll be forced into ethical prostitution and start
looking for commerical johns.  Mind you, I don't mind selling my ethics
for an issue of this importance, but you'd all be forced to view me
standing under commerical street lamps wearing tight shorts and red
fishnet hose.  Not that I would look bad....
 
Seriously, I have finally amassed the historic documents and statistical
data to show MOST of the ferrets released on Zealand died without
successfully breeding (understand the importance of the implication?).
I've actually had a paper on the subject reviewed, but it was kicked back
because the sample was too small and not random enough.  If I can collect
more data, I can show that--considering the numbers released, the legal
protections, the private and fur-farm escapes and releases, and the
ecological conditions that existed at the time, PLUS the natural history
implications implied by current TB research, and more-- domesticated
ferrets are of little risk to California (or even New Zealand!).  I won't
be able to fund such a scientific expedition for a couple more years,
which is fine, but getting a paper in a major journal can take 1-2 YEARS
just to get reviewed and published, so the quicker I can get over there,
the quicker I can get the publishing ball rolling.  Anyway, if you would
like to help, email me.
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 4436]