I got a joke in email today which actually had a ferret reference in
it.  Of course, I'm not exactly sure how to take this (and I'm not a
programmer! :^) )...
 
From "How to Hire A Programmer"  (which appears to be going around
the net):
 
[...]
>The best programmers prefer cats as pets.  I've canvassed hundreds of
>programmers on the subject of preferred pets, and despite the odd
>ferret-lover (and believe me, ferret-lovers are odd), time after time cats
>turn out to be the non-human companion of choice.  Think about it; it makes
>perfect sense because programmers are human cats.  Cats are night animals,
>as are programmers.  Cats are independent, like programmers.  Cats prefer
>to be left alone except when they want attention, and so do programmers.
>Cats are notoriously elegant animals and ... uhm, well ... programmers love
>elegant code.  What's more, software guru Meilir Page-Jones has likened
>managing programmers to herding cats.
[...]
 
Amy
[Posted in FML issue 2253]