Stephenie wrote: >But to give the devil his due. Can we really put all the blame on >the breeder? After all, if we were, for once in our lives, happy with >what Mother Nature provided, people like Soren would have no cause too >reproduce genetic mistakes like the Dew, polka dot, blaze Angora >excreta. I totally agree with you Stephenie. Please everybody, think twice if you buy another ferret, wether it be from farms like soren's or from so-called "good" breeders.... DEW's, polka dots, blaze's , panda's and angora's really are the result of genetic mistakes, they are NOT meant to become the majority of the population. Some "breeders" even manage to screw up with "normal" colours, what can you expect with the "special" colours then??! Why can't we be satisfied with the beautiful, funny ferrets we already have? And try to keep our ferret population healthy? Since so many people want "something special", these farms can go on with their practices... After all, why should they -who don't love these beautiful creatures as we do- stop, if they still get our money? I'm truly afraid that if we keep going on like this, it'll only be a matter of years before we have ferrets that relate as much to the "original" ferret as a pekinese does to the wolf. (no offense to the people who love pekinese-dogs, but think about it!) I'm not saying that the blaze's, panda's,.... that are already there, don't have the right to find a good home, but if we still want healthy ferrets in the future, there is something to be done NOW! Wendy [Posted in FML issue 4798]