The legalisation of ferrets in this country now hangs on a thread.  There
have been vague comments, rumours, and threats made over the past several
years, but this year has been different.  This year, the comments, rumours
and threats have been more vocal.  More real.
 
Recently, I phoned a friend of mine, who happens to run a native bird
recovery centre in my district.  He's met and played with my ferrets, and
has no problem with them.  I spoke with him about the ferret situation,
hoping to get his advice on how to handle a particularly single-minded New
Zealander who obviously hates ferrets with a passion.  His words, in a
nutshell, were pretty darned scary.
 
His position being what it is, he has far more contact with the Department
of Conservation and their 'real workings' than anything I, or virtually any
other ferret owner, could ever have.  He told me that over the past year,
the Department of Conservation have been deliberately targetting the feral
ferret population for research, on the understanding that they were looking
to get pet ferrets banned altogether.  They've been gathering as much
'proof' as they could get to show that ferrets are a major threat to the
native birds, and that they should not be legal to keep as a result.  He
was saying that ferrets could be banned in as short a time as April 2000.
That is only four months away!  *That* is scary.
 
The newspapers and television stations have been reflecting this trend (to
ban ferrets) in the stories that are released.  In December last year, a
young child rolled onto a ferret and was scratched.  The story was blown
into how the child had 'multiple bites and scratches' and 'required
multiple stitches over one eye' (BTW, having seen pictures of the child, I
saw scratches on one arm, and no markings on the face whatsoever) how the
parents had been 'viciously attacked' and how the owner had 'ordered' him
killed because he was so 'vicious'.  The reality was far different, but
almost every single newspaper *in the country* carried this horror story.
Then came the election campaigns, one of the issues mentioned was a major
effort to "eradicate stoats, weasels and ferrets" and now, tonight, comes a
story about how a single ferret has apparently managed to ruin a kiwi
recovery programme.  A kiwi which was sitting on an egg has been found
dead, and the egg is missing.  Although a kiwi egg is *huge* (I'm talking
size 50+ here!) and taller than a ferret is high (and thick, as a result)
the news this evening has openly stated that the ferret "took it".
 
Er... I don't know about you, but if any feral animal was going to eat an
egg, first, they'd have to break the thing open, then they'd just *eat* the
contents, they wouldn't *take* anything.  I'm well aware that ferrets have
been known to be able to kill kiwi, although the numbers aren't known,
since the numbers of kiwi that are *proven* to be killed by ferrets are
low, and the numbers that are *unsure* far higher.  So, I'll admit that
there is a possibility that a ferret *may* have been able to kill an adult
kiwi - although this is unlikely at this time of year, with easier prey
more readily found - kiwi have *very* powerful legs, which could shred a
ferret easily, if the kiwi is provoked.  Why an animal they say is so
important to a breeding venture that if it were killed the whole programme
would be ruined is able to be killed by a feral ferret is anybody's guess.
However, I *cannot* picture any animal killing an adult kiwi, then leaving
it uneaten, and carrying away the egg.  Personally, I can far easier
picture a human coming in, killing the kiwi, and stealing the egg in an
attempt to make money by selling it.  I can also readily picture a person
from the Department of Conservation taking a kiwi killed by other means
offering this up as 'proof' that ferrets are such a danger.  Some of the
people concerned are so rabidly anti-ferret that it isn't a great stretch
of the imagination to believe that they could kill a perfectly healthy
kiwi.
 
Right now, where I personally live is in greater threat of a complete ban
than anywhere else in the country.  The highest population of kiwi in the
country is here, and there are very few ferret owners, and those that do
own ferrets invariably remain out of sight.  I'm virtually the only one 'in
the public eye' and the Department of Conservation (DOC) and Ministry of
Agriculture and Forestry (MAF - similar to Fish and Game) have no problem
with my ferrets.  If a total ban comes in effect in only my area, then I'll
easily be able to take the ferrets 'out of sight' and have no problems with
"the fuzz" (as it were).  One of my main worries is that if there *is* a
total ban, there will be people suddenly "freeing" their ferrets into the
wild so that they aren't caught with them.  Most areas, I believe, they're
simply looking at a total ban on breeding - that way peoples ferrets don't
get killed and after ten-odd years, they're looking at no pet ferrets.  In
some areas (such as my own) they're looking at a total ban - which would
involve euthanisation, or moving out of the area.  In Northland, some
people are apparently looking at a petition to ban ferrets altogether.
With the Department of Conservation having run anti-ferret propoganda for
several years, and the fitch farmers in this area having released hundreds
(if not thousands) of polecat/ferrets into the wild when the bottom fell
out of the fur market, this area is not 'ferret friendly'.  If other areas
are the same as up here, I only know that I sure don't want to risk my
ferrets by remaining here.
 
Sam
[Posted in FML issue 2892]