The reference of the day: T. Lode 1994 "Environmental factors influencing habitat exploitation by the polecat _Mustela putorius_ in western France." *Journal of Zoology (London) 234:75-88. (Note: The Journal of Zoology (London) [J. Zool., Lond.] is common at all universities, most community colleges, many public libraries, and has been in publication for more than 150 years) In trying to understand the specific needs of our sweet 'lil thangs, it is helpful to learn about their wild ancestors. Even if the ferret is domesticated, it's biology and physiology are only nominally affected, usually in the categories of reproduction, behavior and hunting. The relationships between the European polecat and the steppe polecat are very close; in most cases the exact differences are not in the specific expression of a trait, but in the degree of expression. The same is true for the ferret. If the traits of the three species were graphed as a series of overlapping spheres, it would take on the shape of a Mickey Mouse head, except the ears would be very close to the head. In other words, the spheres would be very close to merging into one. Why is this important? Because understanding the needs and evolutionary history of the ferret is made much easier when we can see the origins of the behaviors and biology in their ancestors. With this approach, we can see why the litterbox is missed so often, or why the beasties imprint on specific foods, or why it is next to impossible to get them to sucessfully return to a wild (or feral) state. Why do they bite when they play, what is the war dance all about, and why some have such a hard time allowing new ferrets into their territory have already been addressed in the literature, albeit in reference to polecats, and in some instances, mink and weasels (animals in the same sub-group as ferrets and polecats). While not all of the biology and behaviors are exactly the same, they are homologous to each other due to the close and recent relationships between the species. For example, the wings of bats and your hand and arm are hemologous, that is, they come from the same structures, and have changed over time to do specific things. This is in contrast to the wings of insects and bats, which are analogous, but not hemologous. That is, they perform the same function, but come from vastly difference structures. Analogy is much weaker than hemology, especially in the case of the weasel group, and specifically in the case of ferrets and polecats. So if you see similar behaviors or needs between the ferret and the polecat, you can make an accurate assumption that the two are related, and differences are probably due to the domestication process. Why am I saying this? I had an interesting letter from someone who thought my recent habit of providing references (and discussing part of them) would hurt the legalization of ferrets in FFZs. The point was if I kept drawing comparisons, it would only tend to blend the two together instead of keeping them separate. It is an interesting point..... I disagree on several points. 1) People can readily see differences between wolves and dogs, wild cats and pussy cats, etc. People may not know the names of things, but they are not stupid. Our problem is the superfical resemblance of the sable ferret to polecats, so we must turn to other avenues of investigation, specifically behavior and biology. In other words, to find the differences that are not visually apparent, we have to understand the biology and physiology of the beast. 2) Understanding those differences gives us a tool for arguing ferrets have been domesticated for a long time. It is much more powerful than saying they were mentioned in the Bible, or seen on a heiroglyphic. Neither example proves domestication, but being able to chart those subtle differences in biology and physiology can be used to build a powerful argument that, yes, indeed, they have been modified over time to serve human purposes. (I can come up with many more, but the 125 line thing...) Lots has been said about what to feed ferrets, and one group tends to follow the "Purina Knows Best" line, and the other side tends to follow the "I'm not sure we have it right yet" line. This paper can be used in support of the later position. It discusses the feeding habits of polecats in France and suggests the polecat is a generalist feeder using an optimal foraging technique (they will eat anything they can find, and tend to look in the areas most likely to contain prey). Some tidbits: Polecats prefer wetlands (think of the webbing between the toes), are optimal foragers (why they are constantly sniffing and exploring new areas), and eat mostly small rodents, frogs and toads, and birds (the hunting of rabbit might be used to prove man modified the behavior of the ferret to specifically hunt the animal. Domestication) The study is a good one, but a failure to compare their data with data generated by other researchers weakens the aguments somewhat, but not fatally. Includes a good references cited list. Mo' Bob and the 18 Marshy Mustelids (In memory of Gus) [Posted in FML issue 1739]