Q: "How do we actually know ferrets are really domesticated?  Can you
publish a list or something?"
 
A: I can give you a list of the crazies I've met while on the internet.
 
The question is difficult because most American and Canadian ferrets are
not the animals seen in other countries.  Yes, they are the same species,
but because of American and Canadian practices of early neutering, early
removal from litter mates and mother, and various aspects of diet,
caging, and boredom, the behaviors of American and Canadian ferrets have
been impacted to such an extent that they MAY not be comparable to the
species as a whole.
 
The skeletal morphology of American and Canadian, which is SIGNIFICANTLY
impacted by diet, caging time, activity levels, neutering, and many other
factors, is likewise unreliable.  These differences are so profound, I
distrust ANY conclusions (including my own!) based only on skeletal
differences in American and Canadian ferrets compared to those of
European ferrets, much less polecats.
 
Most reports of physical neotony (the retention of juvenile
characteristics in the adult) are exaggerated, especially those that
suggest the physical neotony of ferrets is comparable to that seen in
dogs.  There is some minor neotony in general, but the differences are
not statistically significant.  This means that although individual
ferrets may display profound physical neotony, within the population of
ferrets as a whole, those individuals are rare.  Physical neotony is
significantly impacted by the neutering, diet, and activity levels,
making any conclusions based on American and Canadian ferrets suspect.
 
Remember, ferrets were domesticated for other reasons than most animals
(as dependable food sources) or dogs, and that history has a significant
influence on any change seen.  Because of this, making a "list" is
unwise because it allows anti-ferret people with little regard for
truth, or a lack of abilities to understand statistic analysis, to
point at individual ferrets and make claims they are wild or, at best,
"semi-domesticated." Never trust the best intentions of the obtuse or
duplicitious.
 
To be considered domesticated, an animal doesn't have to have significant
physical or behavioral changes compared to their wild progenitors.  The
only requirements to be considered fully domesticated are
1) human control of breeding,
2) some type of benefit to humans (companionship, food, protection,
   fiber, etc.), and
3) at least one change in the behavior or physical characteristics of the
   animal.
 
Ferrets have met those requirements for the last 2500 years.  Those
"scientists" that think domestication is defined by a wide range of
physical changes only prove they are not the sharpest pencil in the box.
 
Ferrets are much like cats in that domestication has not had a
significant impact on their phyical characteristics.  The reason is
related to WHY both animals were domesticated in the first place--to hunt
down and/or kill rodents.  For this, you don't need significant physical
changes; all you need is an animal that does the job as it was designed
by nature to do.  The only thing you really want is for the animal to get
along better with each other and humans compared to their solitary
ancestors.  Excluding albinism in ferrets, most breed differences in both
ferrets and cars are due to modern breeding practices.  But, even without
them, ferrets are clearly domesticated.
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 4098]