OK, how about this: Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns and Homerica "THE BATTLE OF
FROGS AND MICE" circa 700 BC.
 
"One day a thirsty Mouse who had escaped the ferret, dangerous foe, set his
soft muzzle to the lake's brink and revelled in the sweet water."
 
and later, the mouse talking to the frog king said:
 
"In battle I have never flinched from the cruel onset, but plunged straight
into the fray and fought among the foremost.  I fear not man though he has a
big body, but run along his bed and bite the tip of his toe and nibble at
his heel; and the man feels no hurt and his sweet sleep is not broken by my
biting.  But there are two things I fear above all else the whole world
over, the hawk and the ferret -- for these bring great grief on me -- and
the piteous trap wherein is treacherous death.
 
Most of all I fear the ferret of the keener sort which follows you still
even when you dive down your hole."
 
          Dick B.
[Posted in FML issue 1782]