Oh yeah, Bill.  Could you ask a question that doesn't take a semester
class to explain?  Like, what is the meaning of life, or why is the sky
blue?  ( ;-) only kidding, but boy is it hard to explain species
relationships, genetics AND evolution in 125 lines!)
 
Actually, your questions are most insightful, and basic to the issues
regarding ferret legality.  It is the basic questions that are so difficult
to understand, and even harder to explain.  Ferrets are not one of the
glamorous animals, so little research has been done in the past.  But I
think that those attitudes are changing; remember archaeology still looks at
kings and the rich because they had such cool stuff, but at least some have
learned not to use the data to explain the common person.  Biologists have
also learned that an ecosystem is not a chain but a really interconnected
and confusing web that no one understands, and republicans deny.
 
I think ferrets have been overlooked because they were the hunting pet of
the poor; people who couldn't write nor record their daily lives.  I think
they lost the public relations war because they were easy to use and conceal
by poachers.  Whatever the reason, they were far more important in history
than we give them credit for, from ratting aboard ships to pest control near
villages.  Not to sound Marxist, but the common person is always overlooked,
aren't they?
 
Bob and the 13 Ferretiers of unknown parentage.
[Posted in FML issue 1476]