>I just got off the phonewith a local vet assistant ... she told me of a
>case or cases of wild ferrets in or around Salt Lake City.
 
Unless this vet assistant has some facts, and can point you to the evidence
of this, dismiss it as an unfounded rumor - and make sure they know you're
doing it!  I was last in Utah 2 years ago, but all of my family (and their
ferrets) are still there, and no news of this has ever surfaced.  Since at
the time, I was the president of the local ferret organization, I'd have to
say that I was the best-informed on ferret matters.  If this had happened
before that time, I KNOW the city would have brought it up during our many
meetings, as we tried to get the state ban lifted.  I'd bet it hasn't
happened at all, personally.  Utah's wilderness has plenty of predators, all
of which would find a ferret tasty.
 
>Second, we got into a mild argument over the domesticity(ooh, big word) of
>ferrets.  She stated that the ferret is more genetically related to their
>wild counterparts(weasils, minks, etc.) than cats are to thiers.  This was
>her arguement for ferrets being "more" wild.
 
What the &^%$??  There are obvious physical and genetic differences between
ferrets and their nearest known relatives, the european polecat.  As to
other species (minks, skunks, etc.) The differences would be even greater.
Unless this person can show you a peer-reviewed study that shows this, I'd
tell them they were an idiot.  Preferably where a lot of other people can
hear it.
 
Sorry for being a little abrupt, but I'm flat-out SICK of hearing people in
power, whether politicians, city and state employees, or verterinarey
assistants, spewing lies, rumors, and totally unfounded stories about
ferrets.
 
It's a good thing I'm not in a ferret club anymore, I think I've got too
much anger repressed from the frustration of seeing people in power ignore
fact and their own public, just to keep any shred of power thay have at the
time.
 
*sigh*
 
--
 Matt Ouimette,  Tech Support Weasel,  Netscape Communications
#     [log in to unmask]                    415-965-7058      #
#  It may be great to soar with the eagles, but you never see  #
#    a weasel getting sucked into a jet engine, now do you?    #
[Posted in FML issue 1978]