Just to clear this up once and for all.  There are feral ferrets in New
Zealand.  I am sending this from New Zealand and we catch them around our
house.  They are common in semi arid regions of New Zealand where there are
lots of rabbits, and not so common, but present, where their main prey
(rabbits and hares) are at lower densities.  The Wildlife Service official
the anonomous person talked to regarding feral ferrets may have been very
ill informed, or may have been in a coma.
 
                 Jim Young
[Posted in FML issue 1763]