Hi all!!  This is in response to Debbie Riccio's questions about outdoor
Aussie and UK ferrets - as usual, I can't find the issue it was in, but
recent...
 
As an Aussie, I can say that most ferrets (certainly the ones I'm aware of
around my area) are kept outside.  I'm not a veteran ferret owner, mind you,
only about 8 months now - our girls have a cage in the garage so they do
generally have natural lighting - BUT - we bring them inside as soon as we
get home from work, and they stay inside until we go to bed.  This exposes
them to unnatural lighting so their health could not be linked to natural
'circadian' cycles.  I admit that this switching from dark (when we get
home) to light (when they come inside) to dark (when they go to bed) to
light (in the morning) four times a day had me concerned that it would stuff
up their sleeping cycles, or their winter coats coming in - but Sinbad's
coat has come through beautifully, and to tell you the truth, I've never
noticed that either of them have a definite sleeping pattern to stuff up!
Neither of our girls have yet suffered a full Canberra winter yet, as they
were both born last Spring/Summer - but their parents lived outside all year
round, and it doesn't seem to have done them any harm...I'll see how they go
as it starts to get colder.
 
Perhaps the feeding of whole carcasses has more to do with it?  Thanks to
modern medicine, we know that all the highly processed, yummy foods humans
eat are slowly killing us, and that a fresh, unprocessed diet is far better
for human health - perhaps the same counts for ferrets.
 
Another possible difference I can think of is that, with less care being
taken for their health here and in the UK (and please don't get me wrong,
Aussies and Brits are NOT generally cruel or careless with their pets, it's
just that working animals generally get treated differently), perhaps
evolution is being left a bit more to follow it's course?  I don't know
whether the incidence of cancer and adrenal disease has been shown to have
an hereditary factor in ferrets, but if it does, then it's possible that
those ferrets with the diseases (in Australia & UK) have been allowed to
die, thus eliminating to some extent the genetic factors causing the
disease?
 
Generally , I would imagine the 'rougher' lifestyle these ferrets have might
lead to a 'winnowing out' of weaker strains, leaving those who are fittest
for survival?  I have noticed, through looking at pictures of ferrets on the
internet, that most of them seem to be HEAPS bigger than Australian ferrets
- in fact, a look at the "Zen & the Art of Ferrets" homepage left me
convinced that either we had a different breed of ferrets entirely or that
my poor little darlings were SERIOUSLY undernourished!!  I would be very
interested in anyone else's opinions on this subject, and in knowing whether
(if any, and how much) any interbreeding between American, UK and Australian
ferrets is going on.
 
As I said, I am a rank beginner in ferretty matters, so these are just
speculations...
 
Cheers,
Sophie.
 
PS - HUGE Dooks and congratulations to Halo and her babies!!!
 
PPS - BIG - sorry this is so big!
[Posted in FML issue 1562]