Q: "I get tired of your continous bashing of people who correctly believe
ferrets were domesticated by the Egyptians before cats.  What the hell is
wrong with you?  Who cares anyway?"
 
A: I care.  To quote a really neat guy, "Truth is Divine revelation,
designed to illuminate evil and light the path for all positive progress."
 
There are several ferret myths of note: 1) The "Out of Egypt" ferret
domestication myth, 2) The "Ferrets are the 3rd most popular pet" myth,
3) The "Ferrets cannot go feral" myth, 4) The "There are 10 Million Pet
Ferrets" myth, and 5) The "Ferrets cannot be trained [like dogs]" myth.
All are false.  Ferrets can be trained; mine roll over, come to calls, set
up, jump and even "beg." I know of *NO* scientific survey that has ever
come up with an accurate number of pet ferrets in the USA.  While I suspect
the number to be in the *low* millions, no one knows the exact number.  New
Zealand is more than ample evidence to disprove the idea that ferrets
cannot go feral.  Dogs and cats are the two most popular pets, followed
by fish, rodents and rabbits.  Ferrets, according to several vet surveys,
are the 3rd most popular carnivore, but not even close to 3rd most popular
pet.  The "Out of Egypt" idea is based on the ever popular Miss Takes
(mistranslations, misidentification, and misunderstandings); there is no
physical or literary evidence, just conjecture.  Not a single one of these
ideas are correct, yet many recent ferret books and articles refer to them
as if they are true.  Other people accept these erroneous ideas at face
value and give them additional life by reprinting them as if they were
some sort of anti-fish and game mantra.
 
I have argued long and hard, and taken numerous public and private flames
for my opposition to them.  While I have no objection to the investigation
of *ANY* idea, I do oppose the acceptance of ideas that not only fail to
withstand criticism, but also tend to supply "argumental bullets" to the
opposing viewpoint.  While the private belief in the myths can do no harm,
the public support of them can and do supply fodder to anti-ferret forces.
Because these myths are so easily disproved, adherance to them harms the
credibility of all of our arguments.  Examples from the past are Carlton
Coon, Percival Lowell and Alfred Wallace.  Coon was a world-class
anthropologist; however, his work has been largely ignored for his mistake
in misinterpreting IQ scores and his statements that some racial groups
where intellectually inferior to others.  Lowell was the astronomer who
accurately predicted Planet X (called Pluto when it was discovered 14 years
after Lowell's death), but severely damaged his reputation by advocating
intelligent life on Mars.  Wallace independantly discovered natural
selection and evolution, but was discredited later because of his support
of fake spiritualists.  In all cases, a lifetime of tremendous
accomplishments are lost in the glare of minor public mistakes.
 
So is this possible in our little ferret world?  Absolutely.  In fact, one
of the most vocal anti-ferret CaCaLand Fishing Gestapo and Vaccuum Skull
Society biologists, Ronald M.  Jurek, is using ferretdom's mythology
against us.  On his anti-ferret and misinformation website, he accurately
takes ferret lovers to task for their belief in these myths and makes
strong argument (by implication) that our credibility is suspect.
 
See for yourself. Go to: <http://www.dfg.ca.gov/hcpb/ferret.html>
 
You will find Jurek points out our mistakes in citing ferret population
numbers, advocation of the "Out of Egypt" domestication hypothesis, and
many other things.  Now, Jurek, head Master Baiter of the CaCaLand Hands
Solo Fishing and Gaming Society, has many of his own problems.  But that
doesn't mean well wishing ferret lovers haven't given him ammunition to
blast us.  For an example of his use of our own statements against
ourselves, make sure you read "A Review of National and California
Population Estimates of Pet Ferrets." He also points out mistakes in the
"Out of Egypt" ferret domestication hypothesis, among others.
 
So I do care when mistakes, even those of a seemingly unimportant nature,
are advocated as truth or facts.  That is why I so rudely used satire and
hyperbole when I blasted my friend, Edward, when he questioned ferret
domestication and tied it to ferret biting and other non-correlated issues.
Regardless of Edward's Socratic self-image and desire to be the "gadfly,"
he was dead wrong.  Besides, the Socratic method, which works by asking
questions and then exposing inconsistancies in cross-examination (like what
I did), is mainly used in the philosophy of science, not in applications
or arguments of natural history.  But my direct concern was in Edward's
erroneous ideas being used against us by anyone accessing this forum.
Which is exactly what jerks like Jurek do.  I felt a single instance of
alienating a friend was better than repeated attempts to dispell a new
mythology (and would do it again in a cold second).
 
The best scientists in the world make grave errors and while I am not even
near to that list of great minds, I sure can make great mistakes.  The
scientific method *ASSUMES* such mistakes will be made and corrects for
them.  While Socratic philosophical methods are useful in generating ideas,
they are worthless in testing them.  For that you need those "erudite"
scientific methods (It is interesting that nuts-and-bolts real-world
science is considered erudite by some, but Socratic philosophic methods,
perhaps the height of theoretical scholarship, is not).  Jurek does not
generate nor test ideas.  What he is doing is philosophical argument.  In
fact, Jurek conceedes many pro-ferret points, at one point admitting pet
ferrets present no danger of surviving in the wild, but dismisses them
because of "theoretical possibilities." By doing that, he can use our
erroneous statements as "evidence" to disprove our position.  So you see, I
*DO* strongly care about the truth because it *DOES* matter.  And if you
don't think it can be a problem because you live in a state other than
CaCaLand, think again; if ferrets can be made legal, they can also be made
illegal.  Our only defence is truth; there is no room for myth.
 
Bob C and 16 Mo' Philosophical Ferts
[Posted in FML issue 2759]