All right, enough is enough. It's 2:30 AM, I've been a week behind on reading the list and I can't stand this "what is a ferret?" and "they're trying to exterminate them all!" stuff anymore. In fact, I put Jenni, who was sleeping happily in my arms, down rather rudely because I have to respond and she's upset with me now. Firstly, if you need a definition of "ferret," look it up in the dictionary. Use the Oxford English Dictionary (still the standard for English no matter where you come from) and use the historical annotations. I quote, under the heading FERRET: "A half-tamed variety of the common polecat (Putorius Faetidus) kept for the purpose of driving rabbits from their burrows, destroying rats, etc." First use of the term in writing: 1398 AD. Tell Laurie MacDonald and other under-educated experts that if it's been written about since 1398, was "half-tamed" at the turn of the century, and lives with people, it is DOMESTIC. All animals properly called ferrets are DOMESTIC polecats. The Black-footed Ferret is a relative of the Siberian Polecat. The colouring is similar to a ferret, but it is a wild POLECAT, not a ferret. The name is a misnomer: The first Europeans to sight it saw its resemblance to the ferret and the name stuck. Same with the lesser and greater Panda: One is type of racoon, the other a bear. The names are the result of similar colouring and habitat. If you are having problems with bureaucratic ignorance, send the offender copies of the relevant dictionary and encyclopaedia articles. If this doesn't help, challenge their right to their positions on the basis of inadequate education. I'm very serious here. A lot of power with little knowledge to guide it is the greatest threat one can encounter: Challenge immediately and forcefully. That last sentence applies equally to "super-models" with a mission and semi-hysterical postings about government sponsored extermination programmes: There may well be some truth out there, but when its twisted-up in emotional twine, I feel it is best excised. True, the BFF, mink, martens, etc., have no e-mail forum, but then neither do echidnas, ants, or bats. I love animals and will do whatever I can for them, but I still eat meat, wear leather, and keep ferrets as pets. I want to know about real problems facing ferrets and their wild relatives, but I do NOT appreciate being manipulated by long-winded, ill-informed, panic-mongering amateur propagandists. Let's tone this stuff down and report FACTS from reliable sources. I agree with BIG, there is a place for this stuff, but on the FML only if it is relevent, factual, honest and doesn't hog all the space for someone's political agenda. I am tired of animals and their welfare being used as the excuse to accomplish some other doctrinaire goal. I have seen enough of that over the last six years at my work. FMLers, excuse the tone. I'm not flaming any of you. I find this forum to be as close to perfect as one can get, but lets remember how inflammatory postings about peripheral issues can be used to manipulate us. [Posted in FML issue 1210]