I was privately asked if there were any published accounts that could be
cited to support the use of the species name Mustela furo to describe the
domestic ferret.  I thought most of you might like the info as well.  Off
the top of my head are two; Walton (1977) "Polecat. Ferret." In: The
Handbook of British Mammals, 2nd ed., edited by G.  B.  Corbet and H.  N.
Southern.  Also, Corbet and Hill (1980) A World List of Mammalian Species,
is another.  There are others which I will post at a later date when I get
through writing the bibliography for my paper.
 
A major problem I have faced (and considerably slowing the paper down, I
might add) is the multinationality of references concerning the exact
speciation and taxonomy of the domestic ferret.  I can read several
languages, but so far have received original articles in Scandinavian,
English, Russian, Polish, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, French, German, and
Romanian.  Some of the references are grey papers; that is, papers presented
at conferences, or unpublished university reports.  Many, especially those
from ex-eastern block countries, are very difficult to obtain if not
impossible.
 
Some other trivia.  Mustela putorius is apparently immune to the poison of
the Adder (Vipera berus), and resistant to strychnine poisoning.  Predators
of Mustela putorius include man, domestic dogs, red fox, golden eagles,
larger owls, and automobiles (cars account for greater than 86% mortality of
wild populations in Europe and higher in Wales).  As far as I can tell,
there is no published account of wild felids sucessfully preying on Mustela
putorius.  Dogs only seem successful when in packs.  One reference from 1847
by Buffon, described dogs fleeing from polecats.  Of the witnessed attacks
on polecats, hybrids, and feral fitch, the chief method of defense was (you
guessed it) biting the nose, hanging on, and shaking.
 
Some anti-ferret history: Chaucer (14th cent.) wanted to poison a polecat or
ferret in "The Pardoner's Tale." Elizabeth I (1566, 1572) offered a bounty
for dead polecats and ferrets, and payments were recorded in many
churchwarden's and estate accounts.  (4d to 2/6d for adults and 1/3d for
kits).  Good guys include Portugal, which protects Mustela putorius, and
Britain which outlawed all trapping in 1981 (they still can be hunted with
guns, however).  And Queen Victoria (1870s) was reported to love the
beasties.
 
Aristophanes (about 450 BC) described thieves as "ferrets" in his play "The
Acheans." Aristotle is credited with the first description of the domestic
ferret, about 350 BC, but controversy exists over the translation of
'ictis'; some say he was describing a polecat.  The Bible (Leviticus
11:29-30) forbids the eating of ferrets.  About 2000-years-ago the use of
ferrets to hunt rabbits was described by Strabo and Pliny.  (I have heard
reports that a ferret was drawn on an Egyptian heiroglyphic, but have not
been able to confirm it.  Anyone know the original source?)
 
In 1667 Merret named the animal the ferret.  Ray (1693) first scientifically
described the ferret, naming it "Mustela sylvestris," but Linnaeus (1758)
renamed it Mustela furo.  Since then it has been known as Putorius putorius,
Putorius furo, Putorius putorius furo, and Mustela putorius furo.
 
I have lately been in contact with several paleobiologists that specialize
in mustelids, and (so far) none have been able to answer questions
concerning the ferret's species of origin.  One archaeologist has a 1100
year sequence of bones from the German-France area, and has offerred them
for use if I will identify all of them.  I might take him up on that,
because I think I will find ferret skulls.  One major problem is a lack of
comparative material.  (To prove you have ferrets, you need skeletons and
skulls of ferrets to compare with, something in short supply in the USA, and
not something you can just ASK for [Excuse me, when you are through with
that ferret, might I have the bones?  JUST A JOKE!]).  I doubt if I could
get a grant to go and visit European collections, so that avenue will have
to wait for later.  In short; less evidence than against OJ.
 
Mustela more in the next post.  BTW, I'm a little behind in the nickname
list; because of that wacky person sending so many nasty e-mails, I lost
lots of stuff from my mailbox.  So, I am going through the last few months
of FML to make sure I get them all.  If you don't see your nickname, I'll
revise the list.  If you don't get a SPECIAL CERTIFICATE in about 10 days,
ask for one--I might have lost your address.
 
Bob and the 13 Hob-along Jill-sters on the TCA cycle from HELL
[Posted in FML issue 1410]