>From:    Paul Ogles <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: ferret numbers
 
Can't go by the ear tattoos.  The South East is where some non-Marshall two
dot tattooed ferrets have been found.  But the numbers of ferrets and the
smaller than expected output from Marshall shows thatt hey AREN'T the
monopoly some think.  They have to deal with competition just like most
businesses.
 
>Also, I hate to mention it, but most pet shop ferrets probably don't
>live into middle age.
 
That would depend upon definitions of most and middle age.  Four is when
vets start treating ferrets as geriatric.  If four is geriatric than middle
age would by two or three which most ferrets definitely make.  We spend too
much time arguing with out defining our terms so we actually all understand.
 
>What really catches my attention here is that we may have a much greater
>number of small breeders around than I had realized.
 
Ahh... now you understand!  There are several classes of breeders in the US.
My mentioning by name any particular breeder is neither an endorsement nor
an anti-endorsement.
 
Large ranches like MF, Path Valley and Petersens (Hagen's contract breeders
as well I guess since I think some are sold in the upper Midwest).  These
typically place ferrets in pet stores.  These are the high 5 digits to low 6
digit range of numbers of breeders.
 
Small ranches often associated with mink ranches.  Ferrets serve mink
ranchers like canaries serve cola miners.  Ferrets get sick before the mink.
Mink are worth money while ferrets really aren't.  These are all over the
country.  Most don't go for pet store sales.  These ferrets are often first
rate and often serve as the base stock for the other types of ranches.
These have usually hundreds of ferrets.  Maybe thousands.
 
Smaller ranches that sometimes call themselves "breeders" sometimes not.
Two Pole Pumpkin, Checker Farms and others fit here.  They often do the USDA
approved and some think about pet stores sales but the pet store market is
low dollar and not the best deal for ranches fiscally.  These may be but
aren't always smaller than the ranches on mink farms.  There is a grey area
between this category and the next.
 
Smallest are the hobby breeders.  They vary in size from one or two breeding
jills up to maybe twenty or so.  These are all over the country.  Some are
good while others are not.
 
There are also brokers that bring in ferrets from almost anywhere.  South
America, Europe, New Zealand, Australia and other parts of the US.  If they
get US ferrets they typically have to get them from USDA approved ranches
that are one of the three larger categories.  Supplying brokers makes it
hard to call your ferretry a hobby.
 
With all of this going on there is still a shortage of ferrets.  Local gluts
maybe and displaced ferrets when pet stores decide to sell to anybody with a
hundred bucks that gives them up on a whim.  our local problem is military
transfers.  Folks get uprooted by Uncle Sam and the ferrets can't always go.
 
>Personally, I've only been breeding for 5 years and I may have been
>lucky in my original stock, but I've never knowingly had a case of cancer.
 
We've not either.  Some of it though has to be environmental.  Small breeder
ferrets in the US seem to die from different but equally bad diseases and
such.  Ten is pretty old for ferrets in the US no matter their source.  But
that "knowingly" is key.  It could be one the differences between American
and non-American ferrets.  US ferrets tend to be housepets more than
elsewhere and as such get more medical attention.  We know more about whats
happening to them.
 
>P.S.  I'll be off line from 7/7-7/17, in Greece, mostly.  Any breeders I
>should visit in London, or the Med?
 
Considering the date this was received; we can tell you who we would have
sent you to in England...
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
mailto:[log in to unmask]  mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.zenferret.com/
[Posted in FML issue 1998]