Hi all-- I should know better than to get going on this again... But I have an actual scientific study to contribute about the New Zealand situation which was mentioned in a post yesterday. I just finished reading The Natural History of Weasels and Stoats, by Carolyn King, published in I think 1993 (last few years anyway). This author has studied stoats and common weasels since the early 70s, and has written several papers on feral mustellids in NZ. In her opinion, attributing the extinction of many of NZ's flightless ground birds and small mammals to feral mustellids is incorrect. She feels that the damage was already done to those populations by first of all people who ate them, and secondly by dogs, cats, rats, and pigs, all of which were present for at least a hundred years before the mustellids were introduced. The mustellids may have tipped the balance in some cases, but in King's opinion you can't place the blame squarely on their shoulders. This is not to defend the practice of establishing feral populations where they shouldn't be-- I would also agree that the ferret colony should be removed. I know I am on record as defending the possibility that our little fuzzies would do better than we think in the great outdoors, an opinion which I still hold, and now I've just said that feral must- ellids may not have the effect we think they would, but it seems to me that this feral population should be removed for a couple of reasons. One is that wild ferrets would be quite bitey, and if people approached them thinking they were tame, this would provide the potential for much bad ferret PR. Another thing is that these ferrets would not have had their rabies or distemper shots, which also makes them a possible health risk in the context of suburbs (please nobody miscontrue this statement as saying that no wildlife has a place in close proximity to humans-- it's just that, as we'd all agree, these ferrets aren't wild- life in the first place, so why take the chance). Anyway, I've gone and stuck my foot in it again, all in the interest of clarity-- let there be no mistake, I am _not_ defending the idea that ferrets are wild animals or should be released in the wild, I am just defending them against having caused mass extinctions in NZ. Whew. On an unrelated note-- Kelleen, Go Girl! Good for you for sticking up for fuzzies who clearly needed it! Regina (wondering why she doesn't keep her mouth shut) Amelia (who says that's ok, you're like a ferret in front of a dryer tube, have to go through it) [Posted in FML issue 1314]