Feral ferret relations exist only in a very few places
1. Parts of Europe have polecats, the wild relatives
2. New Zealand has some animals which may be a genetic combination of
ferrets and polecats or may be simply polecats brought for the fur
industry. (Something Bob Church said he wants to try to figure out.)
3. In the U.S. Black Footed Ferrets (different species so ignore that
European Polecats and Steepe Polecats also have black feet) which are
endangered still (I.E. Contact the state Fish and Game immediately if
that may be the case so that they can gotten to the right safe places)
4. Temporarily one island in the Pacific Northwest into which European
warrening rabbits had been introduced had later released ferrets taught
for hunting, but it was very temporary. They died off on their own once
the rabbit levels went low enough. In the U.S. rabbits don't live in
colonies like those.
If you are in the U.S. or Europe are you even sure they are ferrets? I
have often read of people thinking that weasels (esp. ermine) or wild
mink were ferrets. That sure has happened with polecats in Europe.
In parts of Africa and Asia I have heard of people mistaking mongooses
for ferrets. Mongooses are descended from the cat branch of Carnivora
whereas Ferrets are from the dog branch.
Once i even ran into someone online in the right geographic area who
had the good fortune to encounter the very special and very endangered
cousin of ferrets, the Vormela, and thought it was a ferret.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/http://ferrethealth.org/archive/http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.htmlhttp://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/http://www.ferretcongress.org/http://www.trifl.org/index.shtmlhttp://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
[Posted in FML 6112]
