Okay, I've been on this list long enough to know the answer to these stupid
questions, but for some reason I don't.  As I understand it, and PLEASE
correct me if I'm wrong, there have never been wild ferrets in the United
States.  I was told, or read somewhere, that ferrets were brought here 300
years ago as domestic animals.  It is also my understanding that the black
footed ferret is about as closely related to the domestic ferret as a wolf
is to a dog and that they do not interbreed on their own but that it is
somewhat possible.  My questions are as follows:
 
 1.  What do black footed ferrets eat? (I heard praire dogs, but this
     can't be true can it?)
 2.  Are black footed ferrets the ancestors of our domesticated ferrets?
 3.  People keep asking me what ferrets used to eat in the wild, by this
     I assume they mean the ancestors of domestic ferrets which I assume
     is the black footed ferret.  If this is not true, did domestic ferrets
     ever forage on their own and what did they eat?
  4. If our domestic ferret doesn't exist in the wild here, do they exist
     anywhere else in the world in the wild? My assumption is no.
     But if they do, what do they eat there?
 
Sorry for all these stupid questions, but I want to know exactly how to
answer people correctly instead of just brushing them off with "Ferret's are
domesticated animals and would die in the wild without anyone to feed them"
 
You can e-mail me directly or post to the list.  Thanks for all the help.
 
     Love and dooks to all,
 
     Rebecca, Jitterbug and Monkey
[Posted in FML issue 1781]