NFA/NFR: Since FURO and NAFA already register ferrets, it is unlikely that this new group NFA could become the 'AKC' of ferrets. They also want FAR more money than any other group registering ferrets, 4 or 5 times as much and with no known background as opposed to several years of data for NAFA and almost a decade for FURO. I'm doing what I'm doing for breeders more than anything else. I will not charge anyone to give me data - that doesn't make sense to me at all. I want all the data I can get. Register with these folks if you want but that is far too much money for me to give them. Pedigrees: As far as ferret pedigrees. I know more generations back on my ferrets than I know on myself - some 12 or more so far. Pedigrees were not recorded much earlier than the 70s that I have found but I can trace some ferrets back to parents in England in some cases. We provide pedigrees with our kits. There are two versions; a short form in a fancy certificate and a long form on plain paper. Neither is useful for a pet ferret. The fancy one can be used as a 'cute' thing to give an air of importance to the ferret, ferrets are as good as dogs and cats which also often come with a pedigree. The long form has more information and is to allow other breeders to know as much as possible about one of our kits before it it is bred. It is true that pet store ferrets do not have traceable pedigrees and that these are most of the ferrets found but not the only ferrets. The people I am working with are debating the worth of keeping records on pet store ferrets. Some of us feel that the pedigree information with its associated genetically traceable traits is the only purpose. Some of us think that gathering enough data to track lifespan and medical trait differences between private breeder ferrets and pet store ferrets could be valuable. The mostly anecdotal information used in the debates on early spay/neuter could be replaced by more substantial statistics. The only recorded data I know of is valuable but there are questions as to whether it is skewed through circumstances (not malice as I trust the source). I am gathering information from any published source (that allows it - I won't break copyright laws where they apply - i.e. the FURO studbook). Most information is coming from ferret show catalogs going back to the IFA days. Any information I can get from other sources is welcome. There will be no way this can be used to track 'who has how many ferrets' or anything else that could compromise owners. The pedigree information will likely be the most accessible - which doesn't concern the average owner. bill killian zen and the art of ferrets [Posted in FML issue 1379]