Yo kids! Way behind on spreading cool ferret references so tonight there
are four, three from the same issue of the same journal. Cool how it worked
out, eh? Here dey are:
Bueno, Felix "Competition between American mink _Mustela vison_ and otter
_Lutra lutra_ during winter." 1996 Acta Theriologica 41(2):149-154.
Sidorovich, Vadim E., et al "Winter distribution and abundance of mustilids
and beavers in the river valleys of Bialowieza Primeval Forest." 1996 Acta
Theriologica 41(2):155-170.
Lode, Thierry "Conspecific tolerance and sexual segregation in the use of
space and habitats in the European polecat." 1996 Acta Theriologica
41(2):171-176.
De Vos, Antoon et al "Introduced mammals and their influence on native
biota." 1956 Zoologica (New York) 41(4):163-194.
Lets start off with the oldie from De Vos. The paper is a basic listing of
species of animals that have been introduced, listed country by country.
Although it is a 1955 paper, published in 1956, much of the research still
stands. Some parts of the paper are marred by unsupported statements, and
there are a few internal contridictions, but for the most part, the paper is
still good, albeit basic. One of my pet buggy-boos about this sort of paper
is the shortsightedness of placing the blame for the loss of local widelife
to carnivores, especially when it is clear that the local environment has
been heavily damaged by introduced domestic stock and other species as well.
For example, a local species of bird has gone extinct, and in the immediate
area are feral dogs, cats, sheep, goats, cattle, chickens, geese, and
ferrets, as well as introduced wild species such as elk, deer, rats, various
birds, fox, stoats, and weasels. The question is, did the birds die out
because of being eaten, because the herbivores distroyed the local ground
cover, or because of displacement by introduced starlings or sparrows? It
is an extremely complex question, and as Caroline King said, probably one
that cannot be answered. Yet the Fish and Gestapo, ignoring all reason and
demonstrating a remarkable lack of intelligence, elects to blame the
ferrets. Bad ferrets, bad ferrets!
One thing about the paper; it mentioned that as late as 1955, the status of
the ferrets released on Australia to help control the rabbits had become
"unclear." Now we know they went extinct. Also, the paper shows the author
investigated feral populations quite extensively, yet made no reference to
feral ferrets in the Americas. Not a single incident reported. None in
1956, none in 1997. Tells you something, unless you are a do-do head. A
question for the Fish and Gestapo...when you blow your nose, is it brown?
The other three papers form an unintentional triplet; each by themselves
is interesting, but together they are very powerful in overcoming the idea
that ferrets can become feral in the States. Bueno's paper discusses feral
American mink, living in Europe, in competition with local otters. It
discovered the mink had taken the European minks position in the
environment, and suggests in a round-about way that American mink are
better predators than European mink. I think that is true, because the
populations of American mink are still on the rise in Europe, while the
distribution of European mink are still declining.
The paper by Sidorovich etal documents the distribution of mustelids in an
protected and basically undisturbed forest. Guess what? No European mink
were found, but lots of American mink, some polecats, and other mustelids.
There were more than 3 times the number of feral mink than polecats. It
also supports a large and growing volume of data that suggests polecats tend
to be semi-aquatic in hunting habits, and primarily eat amphibians and small
rodents. (In a different paper, polecats were discribed as being able to
sniff out a frog buried in a foot or more of mud, and during winters,
primarily subsisting on hibernating frogs and toads.)
Of great interest to me is the finding that polecats had the smallest niche
overlap, amd mink had the largest. One of the smallest niche overlaps was
between polecats and mink. Up front, I have to say that although I expected
this, the data quoted in the text do not match those listed in the tables.
Very bad. But after running both sets of figures through the ol' calculator,
the numbers may be sightly different, but the relationship stands. While
there are many possible reasons for this, one could be that competition
pressures from the mink may be forcing polecats into a limited niche
environment, which would explain their limited distribution and low numbers.
Lode's paper adds good support that polecats exclude other polecats from
their territory, but relent during the rut or during poor food seasons.
This is a basic carvivorous mustelid behavior, but Lode's paper strengthens
the evidence. Male territories are larger than those of the female, but
then males are lots larger and need more food.
Overall the three demonstrate the American mink is a superb predator, and
considering its rapid introduction into Europe, a better predator than
either the European mink or the polecat. It also shows that polecats are
quite territorial, excluding other polecats from their areas, and the trait
seems to extend to mink. It shows that in Europe, home of the polecat, mink
outnumber them in the prestine areas. Last, there seems to be a discrepancy
between the historically reported diet of European polecats and modern
populations, with the older reports slanted towards rodents and birds, while
the newer reports indicate polecats seem particularly adapted to hunting
amphibians.
What does this mean? It means that it would take a miracle for domesticated
ferrets, far poorer predators than polecats, to steal a niche from
established mink, that the territories the ferret would need to exploit are
already being exploited by mink, and given the difficulties of establishing
a territory, as well as the propensity of polecats (or ferrets) to exclude
each other from a given territory, the establishment of a feral colony is
pretty much impossible. We already know this, for despite 3 centuries of
introduction on the east coast, perhaps a century and a half in the midwest,
and at least a century on the west coast, there are absolutely NO
established feral colonies of ferrets in the USA. Nor even in Australia,
where, like New Zealand, the ferret was released to kill rabbits, but is now
extinct.
The Sierra Club, Audubon Society, and the Poophead Fish and Gestapo would
know this if they simply picked up a single journal and read it. Buy why
read and know the truth when you can simply have an opinion. Who cares if
the Fish Gestapo pushes opinion as facts. Who cares if nature oriented
organizations, like the Sierra Club and Audobon Society don't *read* about
natural processes, nor even understand them, yet align theselves with
Gestapo agents because of uneducated opinion? Kodo cared. I care.
Hey Auduboneheads! READ something. I have Audubon's journals, and he was a
man that investigated things, learned truths, then acted on them, (besides
which he killed, shot or strangled thousands of "specimens" and acted with
extreme prejudice to Native Americans). He would be embarassed to know you.
And the Sierra Club is a joke, which is why I no longer belong or support
them. Returning nature to what it was before Europeans came over by
excluding human beings...well, what about the Native Americans? I guess
they weren't human. And I guess ferrets aren't animals that are ruled by
evolutionary laws that now exclude them from the wild. Why don't you dump
your 100 lbs of lightweight gear and Eddie Bauer clothing and get your ass
off the John Muir Highway and sweat in the tules. Or just read the research
of someone who did. Short-sighted, narrow minded, anti-scientific idiots.
You better impress me with your Jeeps and Range Rovers, your suspended
backpacks and imported wool sweaters and unscuffed hiking boots, because
brother, your research leaves you looking STUPID!
These are my opinions, and they could be wrong. Yeah, and I'm tall and good
looking, and I drive a spotless Jeep in the City.
Bob C and 17 Missouri Carpet Sharks looking for Gestapo "Sweet Spots"
[Posted in FML issue 1972]
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