Hi all -
I was contacted by a grad student that is doing research on the feral
ferret/San Juan Island issue and he is looking for information on ferrets in
other countries - ferrets that are used for hunting and as pets.  He does
not have e-mail so if you would forward the information with your name
address and phone number I will add it to the packet of info I'm sending to
him.  He was surprised to hear that I had researched the issue last Feb/Mar
(of 96) and we found that we had talked to the same people and I gave him a
few more contacts that he had not talked with.  I hope to send the packet
out this Friday so please forward the information by Friday noon Central US
time.  Bob Church did visit the island last summer but hasn't had the time
to write up his report.  We did not find evidence of any existing colonies
of feral ferrets and there is no biological survey.
 
The student has to turn in his report in in two weeks so the sooner I get
the packet out to him the better.  For those of you that have hunting and
companion ferrets please describe their temperaments, your hunting
practices, housing, etc.  We want his report to be as accurate as possible.
 
He had come to the conclusion (at least thus far) that there were feral
ferrets on the island between 1969-1983.  I questioned him intently on what
verification he had and gave him additional questions to ask his contacts.
One of his contacts was a hawker who lost his ferret, a female, and found
her two months later... pregnant.  My advice was to ask if this ferret had
any type of ID such as an ear tag or tattoo to verify it was indeed the same
ferret.  Up till that point he believed what the hawker had said.  I wasn't
saying the hawker was wrong but when writing a report we want the info to be
as accurate as possible and without ID on the ferret there would be little
chance to prove it was the same ferret that had been lost.
 
One other bit of info that was alarming.  The student did not know the
difference between a stray animal or a feral animal.  So please in your
writings be explicit.
 
Email your responses to:
[log in to unmask]
 
If you would put the country in the subject line that will be helpful.
 
Thanks in advance and hugs to all. tle
[Posted in FML issue 2061]