"The Dutch, for example, always thinks our ferrets are very big."
 
That's about the only motivation I've been given as to why one of
our ferret organisations claim that "our ferrets aren't the same
as foreign ones". Reason why our normal ferrets aren't "original"
ones, of which there is one single isolated population in Sweden
is that they don't look the same, main distiguishing point is
that they all have red eyes, regardless of what colour their fur
is.
 
Both pretty weak arguments, I think. But I've also learned
interesting things:
 
As ferrets are becoming more and more popular as pets (four years
ago, the largest ferrets association had 300 members, now it has
800) veterinarians have become more interested in them and want
to know more about them, so research into them has begun. It is
still ongoing, but one result so far is that DNA comparisions
have showed that they are not closely related to steppe polecats,
contrary to what I had believed.
--
 Urban Fredriksson  [log in to unmask]
 
[Posted in FML issue 0879]