I just spent an hour reading (on the Web) about the CA ferret battle.  I
knew about it, of course, but hadn't ever really gotten any detailed info.
I cannot believe the California DFG has the cajones to stand behind their
statement.  FERAL ferrets??  Does CA have an indigenous wild population of
IAMS and Linatone that I don't know about??  I'm a grad student in wildlife
biology, and my thesis happens to be on (shazam) black-footed ferrets.
(fuzzies are contagious) As far as I know, there aren't too many prairie dog
populations in California, and since prairie dogs are almost exclusively the
food of "wild ferrets", what exactly is the DFG worried about?  Black-footed
ferrets are the ONLY wild ferrets in North America, and they ONLY exist in
Wyoming in extremely small numbers.  (as I'm sure most of you know) As far
as ferrets being "vicious, and willing to attack at all times" - give me a
break.  The DFG has obviously had zero contact with them.  They make it
sound as if all ferrets are scratching at the door and drooling for a chance
to attack women and children.  I'm glad we live in North Dakota, where
people are blessedly ignorant about ferrets.  Someone almost always asks us
when we have them out in public if it was hard to tame our squirrels.  Dean
even told one lady who asked what that "little thing" was that it was a
SPIDER MONKEY and she BOUGHT it!  Hoo, boy!  (well, he does like bananas)
 
Which brings me to another tangent (sorry).  There aren't many ferrets
around.  (We live in Fargo - 3 hours from Minneapolis) Are there any ferret
shows/shelters in the area?  We'd love to take ours to a show, but I don't
think there are any close by.
 
Sorry this is so long - I just get riled up about stupid things like this
CA ban.  Ignorance is only blissful to those who possess it.
 
Tanya, and the (legal) stinky slinkies, Bongo and Boomer (a.k.a. the
spider monkey)
[Posted in FML issue 1746]