I wanted to thank BIG for all the work and effort he put in to get the
ferret list on the FML.  He explained how junk was added to my mail, which
means he has to clean it up, so he probably did about as much work as I did.
It didn't help when I added tab spaces and diacritical marks.  The finished
version was almost identical to the one I sent.  Thanks again BIG!
 
Dan: loved your stuff on the mongooses.  I have been to Hawaii a few times,
but wasn't aware that the little guys were running around.  I studied them
for a short time while I was in Africa and Israel and fell in love with
them.  One of my buddies has one as a pet, and they do tame down somewhat.
The mongoose is becoming important in my ferret research because of their
very close resemblance to polecats and ferrets.  There has been a few
references to Egyptians having ferrets--as far as I can tell, this is based
on hieroglyphic evidence.  I saw a picture, but the animal lacked a mask and
had a dark tail.  It looked like a mongoose to me.
 
Ferrets are mustelids and mongooses are viverids, but they are very close in
appearance because they both adapted to similar ways of life.  Their body
forms are analagous to each other, like bird, insect, and bats wings.  But
the resemblance is uncanny, not just in body morphology, but also in
temperment and behavior (and physiology, so I'm told).  Only relatively
recently have biologists and paleontologists discovered their true
relationships (not that THAT goal has been reached...) Like ferrets,
mongooses have been tamed and kept as pets in India, the Middle East, and
Africa, many parts of which overlap the area of domestication for the
ferret, making the use of early references quite risky for both sides of the
issue.  There is one (VERY GENERAL!) rule of thumb; where you find polecats
(ferrets), you don't find mongooses; polecats prefer the cooler climes and
their fur shows it.  Other members of the Viveridae have "mimicked" the
mustelids as well; the Binturong is very similar to the wolverine or badger,
the otter civet is very similar to the river otter, and many other civets
are similar to the sable, fisher, and marten.  Meerkats are also Twilight
Zone-close to ferrets.  They are also easly tamed and kept as pets.  BTW,
both mongooses and mongeese are proper for plurals; I'm just used to using
the first way.
 
It was pointed out that in my 10-reasons list, I mentioned that ferrets did
not fit the "disposable pet" profile in part because of their cost
($100-200+).  This was a little unclear, partially because I was a dope
writing it, and also because I was trying to save lines.  Certainly shelters
recieve many animals that cost lots of money, even some with papers.  But
the vast majority of animals that wind up euthanized are strays and unwanted
litters from uncontroled and unneutered pets, mostly dogs and cats.
 
One of the HSUS objections is that ferrets might start filling up the
shelters if they become popular.  I take exception to this because most
ferrets are neutered/spayed.  Thus no unwanted kits to give away at the
local market.  Also, they are expensive, which (kind of) limits impulse
buying for a large portion of the population.  So when I say the ferret does
not fit the profile of the disposable pet, I SHOULD have said the AVERAGE or
TYPICAL disposable pet.  There are always dumbkins who buy animals to match
their drapes, them dump the pets when the redecorate.
 
I was asked why ferrets have masks.  To see better in bright light, and/or
to make predators think they are larger.  Usually mostly the first, but I
think in ferrets (polecats) there has to be some of the second because the
white ear tips set off the mask, making it look like two giant eyes.  Since
polecats and fitch tend to attack the predator's nose, imagine looking at a
wild lunging thing, teeth bared, and these two great big eyes!  I would run.
Hell, I have from mink, and they are about the same size.  The dark mask
reduces glare (think sports) for light-sensitive eyes.  Most night-hunting
animals have light-colored bands under their eyes to help reflect light into
the eye, and in full-blooded polecats, there is often a short thin white
band just under the eye.  Remember polecats are primarily smell-hunters
rather than sight-hunters, so the white band is not as important as in a
felid or canid.
 
Bob and the 13 Beasties
[Posted in FML issue 1434]