>From:    George Shepherd <[log in to unmask]>
>
>Sukie, I'm sure I didn't mention polecats in my post; I was referring
>to ferrets.
 
In the UK polecat is also a colour of a ferret and is often confused with
a polecat which is the wild animal... A number of ferret keepers in the
UK insist that they have a polecat when in actual fact they are referring
to a polecat coloured ferret.  A few questions regarding the behaviour of
the said polecat will soon verify that it is a ferret and not a wild
polecat... asking if they have a licence for keeping a polecat will bring
about fairly rapid change from a polecat to a ferret.
 
>> Furthermore, they have been taught to hunt.
 
>Any ferret will hunt as will any predator, it is in the genes.  They
>don't need to be "taught"
 
I took a 7 month old albino jill out hunting just over a month ago -
first time she'd been out.  We found a small bury for her to try her
paw at - it only took her about 5 minutes to bolt a rabbit from the bury,
the net didn't purse properly and it escaped before we could get to the
net.  The rabbit was caught by my lurcher, Lucy, her first hunting trip
as well and she didn't have to be taught to catch the rabbit; it's all
in the genes.  Flower was more or less right on the heels of the bolting
rabbit, the smell of the ferret is enough to get most rabbits bolting
however, if she had caught up with the rabbit a neck bite would have
soon dispatched it.
 
Having said that I can't see that an escaped pet ferret would present a
real problem in CA.  As the majority of them are neutered there wouldn't
be breeding colonies.  Food for the ferrets could be - I believe that
only a few ferrets in the US are fed a raw meat diet and trying to get a
ferret that has been fed kibble can be extremely difficult.
 
The pet ferret would, no doubt, be dog friendly and lack the fear that
wild animals possess that enables them to flee in the face of danger...
the ferret not having this fear would go towards a dog and end up being
attacked.  Curiosity would just result in the death of the escaped
ferret, most ferrets just aren't "street wise" enough to survive for
long.
 
--
Sheila
Bolton Ferret Welfare Web Site:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ferreter/bolton.htm   last update 5 Dec 2002
NFWS web site http://www.nfws.net
 
Waiting at Rainbow Bridge:- Jill, Deanna Troi, Cameron, Carnath, Button,
Bill, Bobby, Jasper, Inga, Holly, Fergle, Amanda, Sparky, Daniel,
Blackie, Marvin, Claude, Bumper, Kurt, Tasha Yar, Larry, Lily, Ben,
Fritz, Dax, Kelley, McCoy, Brock, Snowy, Dumpling, Buddy, Stumpy,
Treacle, Max, Scrap, Vanessa, Sarek, Paw Paw, Badger, T.D, Spooky,
Stanley & Tara
[Posted in FML issue 4024]