I will be leaving for Christchurch on April 10, so you Northern Island Kiwis need to be on your toes! ;-) Please email me and I'll stop by for a visit. Please! I need your ferret's DNA! I have to leave New Zealand by May 2, although I have not totally eliminated the idea of a short return visit before I head off to Europe. I could do so much more work here on the North Island, but I'm already ahead of what I expected. I just have to say that there is a point where staying in one location hurts research in the others. It is time to go. Still, Dr. King has become a great friend and I look forward to publishing with her in the future. Both she and her husband have gone out of their way to make my stay comfortable and profitable. Ken is quite the cook and I have new recipes to try out in the future. Kim is funny, highly insightful and intelligent. I gave her one of Jeanne Carley's calendars and Kim loved it. She laughed out loud and marveled at the beautiful work done by Jeanne. It made her very happy. So now one of the top mustelid experts in the world has a copy of Jeanne's Ferret Calendar. I have made a lot of friends on the North Island that I wish I could mention by name, but I can't and keep them anonymous. Still, you all know who you are and how much I appreciated the visits and you allowing me to collect DNA. Please hug your ferrets from me and please keep in close touch so I can send photos to you when I return home to the USA. Remember to brush your ferret's teeth! ;-) It is very exciting to see ferrets so beloved in New Zealand. Californians have it made compared to Kiwi ferret owners. I have already tentatively confirmed two of my dental hypotheses. Genetics -- while it may play a minor role in the excess wear of ferret teeth -- is not the primary factor in the excessive wear of pet ferret teeth (it is diet); and ferrets that eat a whole carcass diet, or those containing raw whole foods, have much better dental hygiene (less gingivitis, periodontal disease) than ferrets that eat kibble. It is very exciting and I have photos! Also, and not so well documented yet, ferrets (feral or not) that eat kibble have significantly elevated rates of insulinoma compared to ferrets on a low carbohydrate diet -- regardless of the carbohydrate! I've only done crude statistical analyses thus far, but if the numbers from the rest of the trip follow the trend, it will be a major paper for a vet journal, and one that would be extremely hard to rebut. By the way; as I always expected to discover, California ferrets cannot form the same types of populations as feral ferrets in New Zealand. Also, regardless of what the New Zealand government (DOC) and the CDFG says, the damage done by ferrets is minor to the damage done by cats, dogs, rats, sheep, pigs, red deer, possums, and cattle, to name a few. Being able to talk to people and get the evidence has made a world of difference. I am pretty damn sure I can write a devastating rebuttal to the feral argument when I return. HOWEVER -- and this is why I've recommended the Californians hold off a little until I get back -- there is a pitfall that requires some scientific empirical data to back up the rebuttal. The key is the DNA. It can sink the CDFG argument and perhaps blow holes in the argument presented by the DOC. The DNA is also the pitfall for the Californians. It could show modern feral ferrets have been breeding to modern pet ferrets (very, very bad; it probably means escaped pet ferrets are surviving and breeding) or it could show the modern ferrets have little modern pet ferret DNA (very, very good; it probably means pet ferrets are not getting DNA into the feral population). It could also be inconclusive and not mean much of anything (not so bad, but not great either -- at least it can't be used as evidence against us). If the Californians are presenting and the research comes out to show pet ferret DNA in the feral population, it can whack them on the butt. So, I guess timing is the issue. Get it done quick or wait for the DNA results, but don't get caught with your pants down! Good or bad, the DNA results will be published. I have already sent in the first 55 DNA samples. That small sampling alone beats the majority of the genetics work done on mustelids of any type, and will end up being the largest and best rounded ferret/polecat DNA study ever done. I want to thank Meg Carpenter (again!). She read of my recent hard drive crash and sent funds to cover the loss! Thank you so much, Meg!! Every cent helps in this endeavor and Meg has helped tremendously! For a research trip of this magnitude, money equals time, and time is the thing I need most. Time to travel, time to visit collections, time to made precise and accurate measurements, time to do necropsies, time to collect husbandry information, time to collect DNA, and the time afterwards to keep all documents and logs up to date. Meg has helped me make up that lost time. I cannot thank her and all the other contributors who have made this very important trip possible. Bob C [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML 5937]