New Zealand is absolutely wonderful, especially the warm and friendly people. For those of you lucky enough to have bicycled from San Jose to Mt. Hamilton, the scenic areas seen a few miles before approaching the foot of the road leading up to Lick Observatory and into Del Puerto Canyon remind me very much of what I am seeing here. Well, no manzanita or live oak, but the general overall impression. I am staying this week with Dr. Carolyn King, one of the most respected mustelid experts in the world, and I will be using her residence as my home base while on the North Island. She authored "The Handbook on New Zealand Mammals," now in 2nd edition, and the widely regarded, "The Natural History of Weasels and Stoats. Ecology, Behavior, and Management," also now in 2nd edition. Dr. King has opened her home and mind to me, and I have to say she has worked very hard to make this expedition a success. I simply cannot thank her enough. The opportunity to walk from my guest bedroom to her living room to ask a question about mustelids is like a dream come true! I have learned a very interesting new bit of information; I will be photocopying and converting to PDF a thesis that investigates the visual range of ferrets, finding some can see into the infrared, well past our own visible light limit. The subject came up accidentally. I was being probed about my knowledge of ferrets (gently and in a non-threatening way), and I mentioned I thought they should be able to see the blues and violets, and the reds maybe into infrared. She asked why, and I told her about the recent glut of papers on ferret retinas, but also because polecats were crepuscular, and seeing red wavelengths would be useful at dusk (warmer colors), while the blues would be helpful at dawn (cooler colors). I'd explain this better, but I will have to read the paper in depth and my research books remain in Missouri. I'll be more en -light-ening after I return (hard work, but a pun). I also did my first feral ferret necropsies yesterday; a dozen of them. I was struck by the general excellent health of all the specimens. They were also huge, dark sables with a bit of a Siamese point to them. The females were generally larger than many males I see in the USA. The feral males are as large as any ferret seen in any show. If any of these ferrets had been at most shows in the Americans, they might not have won anything (probably would), but they would have made quite a stir. The muscle tone on these feral animals was outstanding, and the teeth were extremely clean, with no damage or significant wear, and sharp! On my heath index they scored 10/10, fat deposited scored 10/10, teeth scored 10/10, and the body mass/length ratio showed they were "larger and more muscular than expected." To give you a clue, *my* ferrets generally score 9/10 on the health index, and only Samson gets the "larger and more muscular than expected" rating! I've taken a lot of photos; this trip is going to become one of my best powerpoint shows ever. My future talks will have some outstanding photos and information. I haven't seen feral ferret behavior yet, but next week I will be visiting a world expert on that subject as well. The rest of this working week has me in the lab. This coming weekend is a big holiday in New Zealand, and I will be visiting ferret people and meeting their pets. I will also spend a day stalking feral ferrets in the wild. I haven't had much time answering emails; but I will try to catch up later tonight (NZ time, not yours). New Zealand people (both islands): Please email me for a visit. I have left my weekends open for the most part. For the next three weeks I will be in Hamilton or Taupo for much of my time, *BUT* I have a rental car (a cheap P.O.S.) and have almost adapted to an entire island of people driving on the wrong side of the road (now, if I can only get used to NZ$1.77/liter gas!). I am willing to go anywhere to further this research and meet your ferrets, collect their DNA, take a few measurements, ask a few questions, and do a health check. I am trying to keep the nasty stuff and lab work during the week, and travel and meet during weekends as much as possible, but I am very flexible and will change accordingly. Thanks to all my friends who have shown great support and help getting this project off and running. It has already been worth it! Bob C [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML 5917]