OK, I saw the Northern Exposure episode, and here's what I remember:
 
The ferret ("Mr. Brown") was not portrayed as viscious or feral or
anything; he was a children's pet.  The most malicious thing he did was
hide under a couch and eat hors d'ouvres (which is pretty accurate
behavior, in my experience! :-)).  He lived with a wealthy family in a
Manhattan penthouse apartment.  At one point, he comes out during a party
and frightens the guests because they don't know what he is or whether
he'll bite.  They're threatening him, and Ed picks him up and cradles him.
Then the infamous line: "this animal shouldn't be here.  It should be in
the wild, where it belongs" (or something to that effect).  Ed spends the
rest of the episode cradling the ferret.
 
As far as I noticed, the ferret didn't make any noise at all.
 
I think it would be good to write to the network to let them know about
ferrets' inability to survive in the wild.  We should also make sure to
mention why it is important that the myth of their wildness is not spread
further (i.e., because of the continuing struggle to disillusion Fish and
Game in the places where they're illegal).  But as possible portrayals go,
this one wasn't bad.  "Mr. Brown" acted normally and wasn't presented as a
scary or fierce animal.
 
Incidentally, aren't ferrets illegal in NYC (where this episode was based)?
 
--Sarah
 
"Life is short; live it up."  --Krushchev
 
[Posted in FML issue 0960]