There are, by my count, at least 26 possible, easy to identify, tattoo spots
on a ferret: top, middle, and bottom of each ear (6) and twenty toes (6+20).
A code could consist of any combination of these 26 spots so that makes 2.6
to the 27th possible numbers that could be tattooed on a ferret.  If you
used the 6 spots on the ears as year codes and the toe spots as individual
number codes that would still be 1 to the 11th or one of a hundred billion
possible numbers per year that you could assign to an individual ferret.  I
don't think even MF breeds that many ferrets a year ;-).  Somebody check my
math please, I could be off by a hundred thousand but so what, its still a
big number.  This is how labs keep track of mice in mouse research colonies
except they do ear and toe punches (ouch).  If MF wanted to, and we would
need to let them know reasons why they should want to, they could ID each
and every one of their ferrets.  The big job would be to keep track of info
like which numbers are the parents of number 500,246 and what was the
eventual outcome for 500,246.  But hey that's what computers are good for.
I don't think that MF will be too interested in keeping the records but they
might be persuaded to provide info on each ferret to someone who will keep
records.  Then its a matter of getting vets and individual owners to report
on the ferrets that come through their hands.  There are folks who do
research on ferrets that might be interested in the data base and might even
be interested in working with record keepers.
 
Also ferrets turn out to be pretty important research animals.  I did a
literature search of the medline publication data base and came up with over
500 articles, since 1993, using ferrets as research subjects.  Only a few of
these articles actually pertained to health issues in ferrets.  Most were
using ferrets as research model systems for various human diseases.  Like:
heart function, influenza, sensory system and neurological development
(especially visual and auditory development), dental research, ulcers,
smooth muscle function, various microbial infections, relief from chemo
symptoms ect.  Some of this stuff is pretty hard to think about when it
involves ferrets and enlisting help from any of these folks is a lot like
laying down with the devil.  But, some of them probably get their ferrets
from MF, or at least some of their colony founders may have come from MF, so
they may have some interest in effects of breeding and or early environment
on ferret health.  One of the names that comes up a lot in those articles
that seems interested in ferret health issues rather than just using ferrets
as a disease model for humans is a Dr. JG Fox at MIT's Division of
Comparative Medicine in Cambridge.  Most of his (or her) articles appear to
be case studies of diseases in ferrets rather than experimental studies that
cause harm to ferrets - so nobody go off half cocked blaming him for the
death of ferrets.  This is someone that might be interested in the kind of
study some of you are talking about.
 
If someone wants to organize this info, I will be glad to send them the refs
and abstracts to those articles that pertain to ferret health.
 
Max
[Posted in FML issue 1987]