>From:    Bob Church <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Bob C: Q-N-A: Ferret Mythology and Effect
 
There are several other "myths" that are also problematic.  They use what
us ferret folk write AGAINST us so it is our fault.  Ferrets are not
unusual in that they need "special people" - ALL pets do but when we state
it so harshly it comes back to haunt us.  A person I consider a friend, Kym
from the PFRA was cited for that.  That F&G page lists her page to support
ideas that ferrets aren't good pets becasue people can't stand them after a
while and segues into pointing out ferret shelters.  The F&G did not point
out that there are more dog or cat shelters as the purpose was not to show
a fair picture but specifically to show how often we "ferret owners" lie.
Really that is the stated purpose.  Check it out.
 
US shelter owners that are misanthropoically and WRONGly stating that
shelter ferrets are usually the result of needing such special people
rather then just acknowledging that lives change forcing people to give up
their beloved pets much if not most of the time.  Shelter folk that make
themselves seem super human are not doing ferrets as a whole a service (we
shelter folk are not super human we just have a hobby that is also a very
good service to others) We on the whole are not unassailable sources of
information.  We are as wrong as any other group.  We do tend to have more
experience with more ferrets so we merely have more education.  Jeanne
Carley herself is one of those guilty of making ferrets look like bad pets
by over emphasizing that most people shouldn't have them.
 
>Dogs and cats are the two most popular pets, followed by fish, rodents
>and rabbits.
 
But I have seen where the 3rd most popular pet myth came from.  One list
from a few years ago by PIJAC if I remember listed those pets below 1st and
second in groups.  Bob did that himself in his list by just saying 'fish'.
One list bunched several completely different animals together that
included ferrets and put them third.  I think it had rabbits and a portion
of the rodent pets.  I think it was some odd group by weight thing.
 
Bob's right.  The very first thing that web page did was cite as many
errors as it could in the abstract as if that was the most important
thing in all of the F&G research.
 
But that page is it self really full of errors.
 
>For centuries, this domesticated form of the European polecat (Mustela
>putorius) was bred exclusively for use in hunting small animals, mainly
>in Europe. In the 20th century in the U.S., there has been a limited
>history of use of ferrets as fur-farmed animals.
 
Uh.  Whoops.  Missed the largest use of ferrets in the US completely.  Rat
extermination.  thousands upon thousands of ferrets in the US around the
turn of the century before the advent of pesticides/ratidcides.
 
Sent a long list of other errors I found to Jeanne Carley when she asked.
LONG list.
 
bill and diane
--
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 2760]