>From:    Anonymous Poster <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: New Zealand
>Are you sure that these are actually ferrets and not introduced polecats?
>...how similar do they look to a ferret?
 
I'll assume we want to talk about the polecat from Western Europe (Mustella
Putorius)instead of the Eastern one (Mustella Eversmanni - Steppe, Siberian,
Chinese - I think are all the same animal.  Bob?) which is rather different
in pattern and resembles the Black Footed Ferret (Mustela Nigripes).  There
are some of these around left over from the BFF program - all neutered.
They don't get confused much with "pets".
 
Okay, I'm not Jim Young but I can talk a bit about polecats.  It is likely
that there are feral ferrets, polecats and ferret/polecat hybrids as I
understand it.  If I understand correctly it was pretty hard to get the
ferrets to go feral.  Polecats of course started wild.  They easily cross
breed.  I think some of the "ferrets" released back when they thought it was
a good idea were actually partial polecats.  Doesn't much matter really.
 
I really doubt you could tell the difference between a ferret, a hybrid and
a polecat easily.  There are recent polecat hybrids in the Eastern US.  I
"think" I can see a very tiny difference in the face.  The poley's seem to
have more forward facing eyes.  But it isn't a perfectly defined difference
since some ferrets have that shaped head that aren't partial poley and some
of the partial poleys have ferret shaped heads.  But I could be imagining
this anyway.  There are some behavioral differences which is why wild
animals don't make great pets.  These partial poleys are not suitable for
people who want a laid back animal.  I don't trust them around my young
children for example.  But once they become human trained they seem to be
fine.  More high spirited but fine.
 
>From:    stafford tracy <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: ferret shelter
...and...
>From:    "David W. Carlson" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: NEW SHELTER
 
If you are looking for a shelter or if you are starting a shelter there are
three organizations to get in contact with.  STAR*, LIFE and the AFA.  We
put this information in only a few days ago so think its a bit early to
repeat.  You can always get this issue of the Ferret Digest by sending a
message with "SEND FERRET 1760" as the whole body (omit the "s) to
[log in to unmask] as described at the top of each issue.
 
[Moderator's note: Note the top of each issue says to send to
[log in to unmask], not to ferret-request.  It's processed
automatically when it's sent to LISTSERV.  BIG]
 
STAR* and the AFA have pamphlets and other stuff to help get you started
right.  I think LIFE does but haven't seen anything from them on this
recently - ask Alicia Drakotes though.  Pam Grant is the STAR* director and
Fran Wiles is the AFA shelter chair.
 
>From:    Brad <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: wood pellets as liter
>Ok, I've seen you all ranting and raving about wood pellets as litter for
>our fury littel friends, BUT why is it that I have read so much about NOT
>mixing ferrets with wood?
 
The problems with the pine and cedar chips is the oils in these evergreens.
Ever messed with pine sap?  Its that sticky smelly nasty stuff that is great
for cutting odors but not for constant inhalation by small animals.
 
Wood stove pellets are made of hard woods.  Actually the sawdust leftover
from lumber and furniture production I believe.  Deciduous hardwood trees
(oak, maple, aspen, etc.) don't have the oils that evergreen trees (pine,
cedar) do.
 
This is also why aspen chips are much more acceptable than pine or cedar.
We use aspen in situations where the advantages of absorbing chips far
outweigh the disadvantages.  Remember poisons are used as medicine (iodine
for example) when the benefits (killing germs) are more important than the
benefits (very slight chance of poisoning) as well.
 
>From:    "Emily E. Classon" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: mf litter and totally ferret food questions
>I know that younger ferrets can eat certain kitten foods (i use the right
>stuff and am not asking for any debates).  I'm wondering if there are any
>good recommendations for adult ferrets.
 
Kitten foods are actually a little "weak" for ferret kits.  Cat foods are
"weak" for ferrets.  Adults and kits should both eat kitten food as much as
possible.  If a quality ferret food is available its usually better than
kitten food.  Economics does play a role as well unfortunately.  Get the
best you can afford.
 
[Moderator's note: Yes, I usually put these things as the end of a post,
but seeing how I already interrupted and I'm in a cranky mood anyhow...
Many people feel that kitten food is *not* appropriate for older ferrets
(i.e. past 3 or 4 years of age) - perhaps others on the list will email
or post their opinions on this as well.  BIG]
 
>I still haven't figured out his coloring.  He looks like a cross between a
>panda and a silver mitt.  He is stunning.
 
The way to seperate these patterns is the head.  If the head is white with
no mask you have a panda.  If the head has a stripe down the middle you have
a blaze.  If the head has a few white spots that are sort of a stripe its
what we call a blaze-wannabe.  For shows the judge will rate its as a "poor"
blaze of as a "poor" mitt.  Since the AFA only assigns some 5% of the score
to color a healthy well cared for "wannabe" will score way ahead of a
perfectly striped but less cared for blaze.  If there are no spots on the
head and it is not all white you have a mitt.  Some standards allow eye
rings on pandas.  There is also the "spotty panda" as we call it that is not
a panda, not a blaze and defintely not just a mitt.  Great for "mutt"
competitions.  We think some of the less distributed standards have a name
for this pattern but not the independant, AFA or LIFE standards.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1766]