Yesterday two posters instructed:
 
>Most of us that are owned by ferrets know that the root of the word comes
>from the late Latin word for robber furo, and from from the ancient Latin
>for thief, fur.  However, did you know that from that root comes the trunk
>of our "ferret tree", fuiron.  Furion is old French for robber or thief.
>From that trunk comes the branch fuiret, the diminutive of fuiron; little
>robber or small thief, what have you.
 
and
 
>i am sure some of you are either familiar with this link or the pieces
>displayed on it, but this is a good example o' ferrets in art history
>over time.
> http://www.doctorbeer.com/joyce/ferrets/frhistpg.htm.
 
 
I add:
Don't forget http://www.ferretcentral.org/faq/history.html by an
archeozoologist, with the second section pertaining to this conversation.
[Posted in FML issue 3677]