Anonymous, please.
 
[You MUST post to ferret-anon-list, *not* ferret-list.  I will not
guarantee anonymity for submissions to ferret-list.]
 
> From: [log in to unmask] (Greg Hastings)
> Date: Thu, 29 Sep 94 17:21 MDT
> Subject: Ferrets and Hawaii
>
>
> Okay, I know that ferrets are illegal in Hawaii but I just had a co-worker
> tell me when he was in Maui and when he saw something (he thought it was
> a squirrel) a guide said it was a ferret and that they had been brought
> over to control the snake population...so now a question--
> What did my co-worker most likely see?
> Alice
>
> [A Mongoose.  They were introduced into Hawaii to control the snakes, but
> in retrospect, it didn't work very well because they eat other things
> too, and are breeding without too much difficulty.  There are no wild
> ferrets in Hawaii.]
>
>
> Greg and Alice                                               [log in to unmask]
 
The ferret-like animal seen in Hawaii was indeed probably a mongoose.
They are fairly common.  They were introduced to control rats though,
and not snakes.  There aren't naturally occurring snakes, except for a
small, blind, subterranean snake (which may have also have been
introduced).  The mongooses, like feral cats, and the rats they were
supposed to control are a problem because they prey on indigenous
species with no defenses against predation.
[Posted in FML issue 0969]