At several people's request, I am posting the outline of the Ferret Paper
on the FML. Since many of you have helped me with some of the research,
you have a right to comment; however, to save the FML a lot of hassle and
space, please e-mail any comments directly to me. I don't promise that I
will accept ANY suggestion; this is my paper (= my reputation) and I am
writing it to professional standards. Also, I have no control of the
editing process. I do promise to answer each comment.
WORKING TITLE: An investigation of Mustela putorius furo as a household pet.
I. History of the Domestic Ferret
A. Recorded history
B. Archaeological history
C. Speciation history
1. Mustela furo vs Mustela putorius furo etc. etc.
II. History of ferret controversy
A. Feral Ferrets
1. New Zealand
2. England
3. Why the ferret has never become feral in USA
B. Behaviors
1. Biting
a. Mock biting
b. Dominance biting
c. Defensive biting
2. Play
a. Play attacks
b. Curiosity
3. Socialization
a. Pecking orders
4. Human misunderstanding
a. Anthropomorphism
C. Attacks on Children
1. Commonalities
a. Parental involvement
b. Acceptance of ferret
c. Lack of ferret socialization
2. Correlations
a. Ferret age
b. Child age
c. Presence of bottle/food
3. Other factors
a. Play instinct
b. Prey Behaviors
D. Impact of feral ferrets
1. New Zealand
2. England
3. United States
III. Comparison of Ferret to other animals
A. Injuries resulting in death
1. Ferrets
2. Dogs
3. Cats
4. Domestic Livestock
5. Wild animals
B. Injuries resulting in mutilation
1-5. above
C. Injuries resulting in treatment
1-5. above
D. Impact on wildlife
1-5. above
E. Rabies
F. Canine Distemper
G. Robustness and general health
IV. European attitudes towards the ferret
V. Statistical analysis of data
VI. Conclusions
The basic argument is very simple; state the objection, show the lack of
scientific control concerning objection, then refute objection using sound
and rigorus argument. Tried and true.
For example: Showing the face of a little girl mutilated by a ferret can be
taken as evidence that a singular ferret attacked a small child, but what
about the other five million ferrets? This is guilt by association, and is
as convincing as showing the face of a girl mutilated by a domestic dog,
and concluding all other dogs are bloodthirsty. Or condeming all human
males because one raped a woman. This isn't evidence; this is hyperbole,
designed to replace evidence with emotion and to trick the viewer into
accepting falsehoods rather than examining the evidence. This evidence
might be rigorus enough for Good Morning America, but it ignores the
factual issue. The question is, do ferrets attack children at a rate
higher than other domestic animals? (Present evidence).
And so on.
If, after looking at the outline, any of you can come up with any newspaper/
journal/ magazine articles, please e-mail the source to me, or copy and
send directly to my PO Box (see below). To make this paper more effective,
I needs great gobs of statistical data from all over the USA. Then I can
prove my numbers reflect a population, which is very important. With your
help, I can have this paper ready between Christmas and the first of the
year; without it, well, maybe next summer. Within a few weeks, I'll make
the bibliography available; but by that time I will have most of the paper
fleshed out.
I know I'm asking a lot, but if some of you could make inquires at your
county, regional or state-level animal control office for animal bite
statistics, it would be a tremendous help. Even if all I get are contact
names and phone numbers, it would save me a great deal of time.
Thank you all for the help I have recieved thus far.
Bob
Moose, Stella, Daye, Tori, and Bear.
Bear says, "If you can't send clippings, please send raisins. Or tuna;
the kind in water. Or (and don't tell Bob) chocolate, pepsi, or rubber
erasers..."
Bob Church
PO Box 1988
Columbia MO 65205
[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1371]
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