All right, enough is enough.  It's 2:30 AM, I've been a week behind on reading
the list and I can't stand this "what is a ferret?" and "they're trying to
exterminate them all!" stuff anymore.  In fact, I put Jenni, who was sleeping
happily in my arms, down rather rudely because I have to respond and she's
upset with me now.
 
Firstly, if you need a definition of "ferret," look it up in the dictionary.
Use the Oxford English Dictionary (still the standard for English no matter
where you come from) and use the historical annotations.  I quote, under the
heading FERRET:  "A half-tamed variety of the common polecat (Putorius
Faetidus) kept for the purpose of driving rabbits from their burrows,
destroying rats, etc."  First use of the term in writing:  1398 AD.  Tell
Laurie MacDonald and other under-educated experts that if it's been written
about since 1398, was "half-tamed" at the turn of the century, and lives with
people, it is DOMESTIC.  All animals properly called ferrets are DOMESTIC
polecats.  The Black-footed Ferret is a relative of the Siberian Polecat.  The
colouring is similar to a ferret, but it is a wild POLECAT, not a ferret.  The
name is a misnomer:  The first Europeans to sight it saw its resemblance to the
ferret and the name stuck.  Same with the lesser and greater Panda:  One is
type of racoon, the other a bear.  The names are the result of similar
colouring and habitat.  If you are having problems with bureaucratic ignorance,
send the offender copies of the relevant dictionary and encyclopaedia
articles.  If this doesn't help, challenge their right to their positions on
the basis of inadequate education.  I'm very serious here.  A lot of power with
little knowledge to guide it is the greatest threat one can encounter:
Challenge immediately and forcefully.
 
That last sentence applies equally to "super-models" with a mission and
semi-hysterical postings about government sponsored extermination programmes:
There may well be some truth out there, but when its twisted-up in emotional
twine, I feel it is best excised.  True, the BFF, mink, martens, etc., have no
e-mail forum, but then neither do echidnas, ants, or bats.  I love animals and
will do whatever I can for them, but I still eat meat, wear leather, and keep
ferrets as pets.  I want to know about real problems facing ferrets and their
wild relatives, but I do NOT  appreciate being manipulated by long-winded,
ill-informed, panic-mongering amateur propagandists.  Let's tone this stuff
down and report FACTS from reliable sources.  I agree with BIG, there is a
place for this stuff, but on the FML only if it is relevent, factual, honest
and doesn't hog all the space for someone's political agenda.  I am tired of
animals and their welfare being used as the excuse to accomplish some other
doctrinaire goal.  I have seen enough of that over the last six years at my
work.
 
FMLers, excuse the tone.  I'm not flaming any of you.  I find this forum to be
as close to perfect as one can get, but lets remember how inflammatory postings
about peripheral issues can be used to manipulate us.
[Posted in FML issue 1210]