I was discussing ferrets with people on a Usenet newsgroup, when someone posted info from a book by Muriel Beadle: _The Cat, History, Biology, and Behaviour_. It said that the ancient Greeks did not keep cats, but kept ferrets instead, and that the word _ailouros_ (in ailurophile: cat-lover, and ailurophobe: cat-hater) originally meant "ferret", but was mistranslated or something. The person who posted this was from New Zealand, so I don't know where the book can commonly be found. Anyone have any other info on this? A cute side-note: The poster of this info is a cat owner, and we had discussed how cat things get used for ferrets, making ferrets "pseudo-cats" at times. Well, he suggested that this means that cats are really honorary ferrets, rather than the opposite! :) Note: I like other pets too, and have owned dogs, cats, fish, newts, an anole lizard, and hamsters. But ferrets have a special place in my heart. Happy ferreting! Denise, plus Rocko and Randall, and Grumpy the hamster /\\ ____ ,^-o, [log in to unmask] ``-,' `-';~~ "Ferrets are kittens with leather jackets .',-'~`../' and no fear!" - John "Newdad" Reed `~~ `~~ [Posted in FML issue 0997]