Seems like I put my foot in it last post; the San Juan Islands are off Washington, not Oregon. I knew that. I've been talking to people on the islands for the last few weeks, so I should know. Actually, part of the post was missing, probably at this end with this wacky server (meaning me, although if anyone wishes to suggest it was SHOWME's fault, I'd be happy to shift the blame....). Anyway, what was printed in the FML was not what I saved to my hard drive. So all you kiddies in FML land, call up the old post, cut out the paragraph, and substitute the following (what I thought I sent): As for the sunny sand and the salt water: One consistant thing about wildlife biologists is that when it comes time to study an animal, they tend to go where its easy to find them (unless there are too many biting flies or mosquitoes, in which case they go to the second best place; the zoo). The closest wild relative of the ferret is the European polecat. In New Zealand, the greatest populations of polecats/ferrets are found near the lagoons. In Britain, there is no accurate nor published account of the feral fitch population that I can find (I have called people, and believe me, it isn't cheap). I was told this was partially due to continuing losses during hunting and excapes, so it is hard to say if feral fitch seen near occupations are truely wild (presumably some are, but since every British ferreting book I have read suggests that owners deny they have lost any ferrets, and ferrets are still associated with poaching, it is doubtful accurate results can ever be obtained) and partial due to lack of conern/interest. However, polecats, hunted to virtual extinction throughout most of the island, are still found in coastal swampy areas near Wales. The only reported spot in North America where a colony of feral ferrets used to live (they were introduced to control the European rabbit) was the San Juan Islands off the Washington coast. State officals have reported the population to be extinct, "leaving" with the rabbits. Various claims have been made-sans any confirmable evidence-about islands in the Mediteranean and off the coast of Oregon. Notice a commonality? To save valuable online time, I first write my posts in Word 6 offline. I am a liberal user of the cut-n-paste method, and often rewrite under the first draft, clipping parts as needed to save time. When finished, I cut the old stuff, save the document, then copy the text to my clipboard. I go online, then paste it into my mail message. In this case, after saving the original, I probably accidently clicked the paste key and replaced the good stuff with the stoopid garbage before copying the whole mess to the clipboard. It was late, and I didn't proofread. Usually, this works wel, but this isn't a good example. I developed the method after having so many troubles with my server having slip problems, and dropping out half way through the message. I also download my messages--with Fetch--and read them in Word 6 rather than online. Much easier to read, and I save my online time for tracking down nude pictures of female Star Trek actors (not really, but it sounded good, right?) I'm sure it is a method that AOL would approve of, if they only thought of it. Well, I was told an idiot could operate a Mac, and I'm living proof. Sorry for any misunderstandings. As for the feral population in the San Juan islands, they are history. I have talked to a very disagreable person who claims to see them, but can't seem to distinguish between lost pets (yes, ferrets are kept as pets on the islands; at least one vet takes care of them) and a breeding colony. This person sees feral ferrets like McCarthy saw communists. According to him/her, they are everywhere. I have offered to spend some time checking out the "sightings", but then locations and times become less clear and farther in the past. Because she/he is a professional, and some readers might know him/her, I will withhold her/his name until I have a little more evidence to whack his/her claims heavily about the head and shoulders. But after this summer..... BTW, there is a very informative article in the April 1996 issue of "Natural Pet" regarding pet nutrition. It is slanted towards cats, but the issues can apply to all carnivores. One last thought that has been rattling through my empty head. I know a sure-fire way to not only make money, but put ferrets in a good PR light. Tests have shown ferrets to be as smart as dogs (or smarter), and are easily trainable. They have a sense of smell as good or better than the pooch. Why not teach them to search for drugs or trapped people? They are naturally inquistive, respond to positive training methods, and are much easier to transport than their phylogenetic relatives. Ferrets could be taught to hole up next to the victim, and a transponder could send out the location. This is basically what has been done for centuries in rabbit hunting, so why not for people or contraband? Funny thought...can you imagine the Calif F&G using ferrets to sniff out poachers or illegal game? Or the California border guards using them to find dope? Best yet, how about at the inspection stations to search for, you guessed it, illegal fruit and raisins? If anyone uses my idea, my ferrets get 10% of the confiscated raisins. Bob and the 13 Raisin Watchferrets [Posted in FML issue 1527]