Dear Karl, regarding the following excerpts from your posting: >The Black-footed 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. >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. Chill, my friend! Though I realize some of the BFF info is emotional and less than factual, I for one do not feel "manipulated". It IS an emotinal issue, but I feel the facts will trickle through, and I am happy to be informed. Actually, I fear you are guilty, in your emotional state, of passing misinformation yourself. The panda is in fact NOT a bear, or even close. Another misnomer. It is more closely related to the Lesser Panda and both are cousins of the racoon. Cheers. ---Sue [Posted in FML issue 1211]