Somewhere along the line of biological development, the wild ferret has been tagged with the nutritional description of an obligate carnivore. This tag is currently widely accepted and has not yet been the target of inquisitional discussions, at least, not until now. Consider the meaning of this tag and the historical evolutionary ecological niche wherein the wild ferret is seen to reside. As fitting as that opinion may be, I have to ask, is this opinion a good fit for an animal that has transitioned the modal life of a wild animal to the modal life of an animal that is changing through the process of domestication, a process still underway? The meaning of the tag, obligate carnivore, can be defined as an animal that eats meaty substances and is not obligated to eat other foods, due mainly to its life style, its habitat, and the ease of procuring its primary meaty food. One definition emphasizes the wild ferret's lock into meaty substances by decrying the lack of a nutritional enzyme capable of digesting and assimilating a raw carrot. I need ask myself, under what conditions would a wild ferret seek out and devour a raw carrot ... a raw radish ... a raw cabbage ... or any raw vegetable? In the wild, no how, no way, Jose. ( A little bit of Mexican lingo there, as Rush Limbaugh would say.) However, the ferret that has been under control of man for some few years, and who is entirely dependent upon man for its food, and satisfies the basic requirement of a domesticant, can its digestive system benefit from the nutritive value of a cooked carrot that has been broken down to micro-miniaturized particles on the order of 1.68 X 10 to the minus 2nd power inch? Secondly, does the thermolysis of the lignin/ cellulose cellular walls enable nutritive extraction of the nutrients internal of such woody cells? The answers to these questions are certainly open to debate. However, one may conclude that the processed plant foods eaten with the meaty foods offers the domestic ferret somewhat greater nutritive value than does the raw carrot for the wild ferret. One may note here that the passage of non-absorptive lignin through the gut, particularly the colon, may be seen as a roughage scourge that scrapes the colon walls habitually clean, and in so doing, prevents the bedding and cellular invasion of coronavirus particles believed to be causative of ECE. the dreaded green slime fecal discharges typical of Epizootic Catarrhal Enteritis. In summary, should you consider defining the ferret, both wild and domestic, as an obligate carnivore? Or, should we expand the definition as it applies to the domestic ferret as an omnivor? Voila tout. (French: There, that's all of it.) Edward Lipinski Ferrets North West Foundation [Posted in FML 6290]