Does anyone know OFFICIALLY why ferreting is illegal in the U.S., and how long it has been so? Please be civil! I'm not going to try it & don't want to hear why it should or shouldn't be legal/right/humane, etc. I'm curious because I'm doing some research on the history of ferrets and ferreting. Early English colonists brought ferrets to America to help them hunt rabbits - which aren't as big a problem in the U.S. as in the U.K. (more predators, I guess). So it may have been unnecessary to hunt them with ferrets here. But people still hunt and kill rabbits, whether for food or pest control with dogs, poisons, and traps. (I'd think ferrets would be more environmentally friendly than poisons. . .) I've heard that terrier-type dogs superceded ferrets as rabbit hunters here, but don't understand why. Is it because dogs are less easily distracted/more oriented toward obeying commands? Easier to handle? Better PR as "man's best friend?" From a practical standpoint, that doesn't make sense to me, since (1) even small dogs are too big to go in rabbit holes; (2) if dogs are better, EVERYONE would use them and ferreting wouldn't make sense in Europe either; (3) ferret size/body shape/natural tendencies seem to make them more suited to it than dogs. Additionally, dogs used for that purpose would have to have been specially bred for it - why do that, if you already have an animal that's perfectly adapted for the job? Was it a "humane issue?" If so, why's it legal to hunt deer with dogs (in some states); rabbits/small game with falcons (in some states); foxes, birds, and other animals with dogs (in some states); and all types of animals with guns (legal in all states, as far as I know)? What's the difference between sending a ferret down a rabbit hole to flush (or sometimes kill) a rabbit and loosing a dog in the woods to chase down a deer or rabbit, or "tree" a raccoon/possum so a hunter can shoot it? (Sometimes the dogs catch them - I can't see that being any more "brutal" than a ferret catching a rabbit, & my understanding is that ferreters take precautions to prevent that from happening - by using smaller ferrets, nets, etc.) A PR issue (those vicious, nasty, little weasel cousins that attack babies)? Was it outlawed because pro-pet-ferret people wanted to smooth over the image of ferrets to make them more acceptable as housepets? That doesn't make sense either - cats kill & eat birds, mice, gophers, rabbits & whatever else they can find, & that's just considered "cat nature" and completely accepted. In fact, cats are now the #1 most popular pet in America! So what's the deal? Karen (making it a habit to ask too many questions!) [Posted in FML issue 1868]