>From:    Urban Fredriksson <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: angoras
>>Austin Owens <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>Got me wrondering casue there are several breeders I have seen with ads for
>>angora ferrets... are they or are they not?
>Interesting question: I don't know if there's a good definition on what an
>angora ferret is.  If you see them, it's rather clear they're different, but
>some of them doesn't have very much longer fur than some other ferrets.  So
>just fur lenght can hardly be used.
 
Urban being in Sweden might not get to compare the Swedish Angora and
"shorthair" to as many non-Swedish ferrets.
 
From what I can tell most Swedish ferrets have longer hair than most
American ferrets.  The difference between an American ferret and a
non-angora Swede is sometimes as much as between the Swede angora and
non-angora.
 
The term angora for these ferrets is misapplied I think.  The angora in
rabbits and such has extremely long beautiful undercoat making them fluffy
and soft.
 
The angora ferret is a bit different in that it seems to lack some of the
differentiation between the guard hair and others.  The undercoat seems to
be made of longer thinner hair like the guard hair.  Might explain in some
way the nasal hair.  It is more like the guard hair or something than the
normal nasal hair.
 
Its a simple mutation of some sort that has not shown any serious problem
except maybe nasal clogging by Urban's speculation.  There is no linkage to
blindness or deafness.  The well accepted pandas have more problems than
angoras.
 
We have a pair (altered) and find that they seem no different than the other
Swedish ferrets other than the hair.
 
Seen some real malicious speculation on this "new breed".  Its not a new
breed.  Just new to the United States.  I've heard nothing from Sweden to
suggest they are any less hale than their other ferrets.  Urban, have you?
 
They aren't even a breed in the sense of dogs and cats any more than colors
in ferrets are different breeds.  We've been told angoras and non-angoras
come from the same litter.  Its more a case of a gene (or set of genes) that
might or might not appear.  As I understand they aren't all that rare in
Sweden.  Just as most American breeders will not ship most Swedish breeders
won't either.  They just aren't coming over here.
 
If you like angoras great.  If you don't also great.  Its your choice.  Just
like with pandas or albinoes.
 
For some reason some people in the US are resisting certain European
imports.  Seems to be those that get one kind object to those that got a
different kind.  There is a similar resistance from some Europeans to
American ferrets going over there.  I don't understand at all.  Ferrets are
ferrets.  People keep complaining about the populations becoming more inbred
but then resist the efforts to reduce that.  Silliness.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1884]