Hi - back again.  Have been off line for some time due to a software problem
that I didn't have time to sort out until after the New Year when we
returned from a short visit to the USA.  So, had lots of FMLs to peruse and
catch up on.  Some interesting stuff - so here goes:
 
>On  Sun, 25 Jan 1998 - Sheila Crompton wrote:
>Who is super breeder?  How does he know that the polecat he using will
>produce trustworthy kits, is it a true polecat?  How come he's using it
>in a breeding programme?  Just curious!
 
>On  Mon, 26 Jan 1998 - bill and diane killian replied
>I won't speak for the breeder who has at times subscribed to this list.
>If he pipes up great.  If not Sorry.
 
Well Bill, I guess you knew that I wouldn't be able to resist - eh!
 
I would first like to say that there is a great deal of inaccurate
information, on both sides of the Atlantic, about how ferrets are treated,
bred, fed and cared for in the UK and in the USA, and that some of the posts
I have been reading that have emanated from here, have done nothing to try
to make the situation any clearer.  There is a wealth of DIFFERENT, but just
as relevant, kinds of knowledge in both countries and I feel it is such a
shame that cloaked sniping and one-upmanship, with little factual basis, in
some of these postings is putting up a wall to the knowledge being made
available for the benefit of all.  There is a difference in a genuine
request for information and an off the cuff remark that contains an opinion
that has not been formed with the benefit of the background facts.
 
Bill and Diane's hob was supplied by me.  Bill actually said that he had a
PARTIAL poley and if you had read Bill's previous postings to the FML( I do
know Sheila, that you have been a subscriber for some time), you would know
that his hob is 3rd generation (1/8th) .  What makes you think that this hob
was fathered by a wild polecat?  Are you just guessing and tarring all UK
breeders with the same brush?
 
As for super breeder, well its really very easy Sheila, all you need is (1)
a sensible and attainable end result in mind (2) know your animals (3) by
that knowledge of your animals, select those that have the potential for use
in producing the desired end result, (4) amongst those selected, carefully
match your matings of specific animals having the traits desirable for the
end result (5) the application of common sense.
 
[Two posts combined here. BIG]
 
Welcome back - now read on...........
 
The background of this particular matter (how, and why Bill and Diane
Killian got a partial poley from England) was that some US breeders wished
to bring in outside blood to their breeding programmes.  The breeders I had
spoken to seemed to feel that the gene pool that was available to them was a
little too small, and that introduction of carefully selected, unrelated,
bloodlines would boost vigour and possibly long term health in their own
stock.  My understanding of the general situation (and Bill please correct
me if I'm wrong in any aspect of this) is that small breeders have only been
in operation for a short time - in breeding terms - and as virtually all the
ferrets in the USA had been produced from large ferret farms, they were
neutered and descented before becoming available to the public.  Hence the
animals that the smaller breeders had to work with at the commencement of
operations were a small population - in breeding terms - and in this
situation, it doesn't take too long before most of the animals you are
working with have some degree of family relationship.  Some UK ferrets were
sent to the USA in the Autumn of 1995 and were used with very successful
results in the breeding programmes of the breeders that took them.
 
I was aware that some breeders in the UK were crossing up ferrets with wild
polecats but it seemed to me that there was little purpose in what they
appeared to be doing other than producing an animal that was <different> and
had rarity and novelty value.  What qualities does a so called super ferret
have?  I can't see that it would hunt any better.  My ferrets are fine as
they are, great workers, and I don't see that introducing the wild polecat
to them would make them any better.  I think that most of these crossed
animals were mated indiscriminately without any thought to what would be the
outcome.  I say this because it is my experience that this is how the vast
majority of ferrets are bred in the UK - lets be honest about this, very few
breeders in the UK use what could be termed as any sort of positive plan
when mating their ferrets.  As a consequence, the ferrets that I knew of,
produced by crossing to wild polecat, were hyperactive and viscous, of
absolutely no use whatsoever as a pet or a working animal.
 
A friend of mine came into possession of a polecat x ferret hob.  This hob
had been bred with some thought and was of proven lineage.  Although a very
active animal, by UK standards, he was extremely tractable and not in the
least viscous.  My friend crossed him to one of his jills, and a hob from
that litter became available.
 
Why was this hob used?  Well, this particular hob was very much like his
sire - good bone and muscle structure, broad skull, bold clear eyes, well
set head, robust conformation and full, thick coat.  The only differences
were that the sire's coat was almost solid black, whereas his offspring
tended more towards the traditional poley markings, but also very dark, and
that the hyperactivity shown in the sire had decreased.  He was used because
he was a very fine specimen, and with the application of a little breeding
knowledge could be used to produce more of his kind.  It was decided that
this young 1/4 cross would be mated to an older jill that had already thrown
exceptional ferret kits, both in terms of conformity and temperament.  The
results of this mating, as expected, were fine robust animals that had the
most wonderful temperaments.  Around this time, I had been getting further
enquiries from the USA about polecat crosses, on previous occasions I had
discouraged this idea as I didn't think that such animals would be at all
suitable.  However, in view of the excellent results that had been obtained
the mating was repeated and the litter sent over to the USA (they were 14
weeks old at the time of shipment) - Bill and Diane Killian's hob came from
that litter.  Even so, I would stress that these animals went only to
breeders that I knew to be knowledgeable and responsible individuals who
were interested in improving their bloodlines - the results of the matings
that were made in the USA with these ferrets have been very successful.  I
hope that answers your question Sheila.
 
I am sorry if this posting has been long and rather boring for most of you,
but I felt that I had to put all the above on record just to make the
situation clear.  I did not want people to get the impression that there
were ferret people around who were acting in a totally irresponsible way
and, more importantly, that Bill, Diane and myself were instrumental in such
action.  This is exactly what I meant at the beginning of this posting by
saying that more harm than good is done by people passing opinions without
having the full benefit of the background facts to the matter at hand.
 
I have some further things to say on recent postings on the FML, but as this
post has been rather long, and the other will probably be just as long, I
have decided to send them in two postings the second will follow in a day
or so.
 
--
George Parker
[Posted in FML issue 2213]