I'll be leaving for CaCa land in about 2 weeks. My route is from Columbia MO to Austin TX to LaLa CaCa and up to Bezerkely. When I leave CaCa land, its up to Reno NV over to Montana, then across the top to home. I rest for a week and a half, then over to the Smithsonian. Whew! A lot of people have asked me to stop, and I will, but I need phone numbers to contact you when I am in your area. Please send them by private e-mail if you have not yet done so. Oh, and thanks. I have been discussing colors and patterns with mucho FML people and have come to two conclusions. First, no one agrees on anything, and second, the terminology is very inconsistant. I won't comment on that except to say someday the clubs are going to have to swallow their pride, bury whatever hatchets they have in each other's backs, and unify. Everyone says we have the third most popular carnivore pet, yet we lack a national organization to fight our legal battles, set up a standardized terminology, and essentially bleed us all dry in dues to support alcoholic ferretcrats. And don't let ANY club fool you; there is NO truely national organization. Come on guys. How many ferrets will have to lose their heads because we have too much pride or stubbornness preventing us from organizing nationally and fighting these idiotic pest control officers? I personally challenge the various "National Organizations" to get off their duff and start working together. How about the FML 10th anniversary bash? A day locked together in a room, and I volunteer to referee. I'll bring a whistle and a squirt-gun filled with vinagar water. OK, off the soapbox. To set the record straight on white vs albino colorations. Yes, all albinos are white, but not all white ferrets are albino. You can have the genetics for any particular color and pattern, but if you lack the ability to make pigment, you are an albino. Conversely, you could simply have genes that code for white hair, and still be able to make pigment. Albinism is a recessive trait and requires two copies of the albinism gene for albinism to express AS albinos. Second, color is a continuum from light to dark. But not all color is actually pigment, some is a result of hair texture and translucence. Also, in some mammals, there can be up to seven different gene locations that determine color. Eye color can have more than one gene controlling, as can pattern. Pattern is also a continuum; it doesn't take a rock scientist to recognize most patterns are simply modifications of the classic sable. (Don't confuse color with pattern here) Obviously, there are patterns that look vastly different, but so would an African, and Asian, and an European placed in the same room. The more of each you put in the room, the less the contrast until you can line the people up to form a continuous procession of variabilty; in other words, a continuum. In a continuum, it is easy to tell the ends from the middle, but it can be next to impossible to tell adjacent individuals apart. In light of all this, without adequate record keeping and sharing of information, working out some of these problems can be very difficult. Don't get me wrong; some breeders already know intuitively what colors and patterns result from specific crosses, and their knowledge would be in excess of most biologists starting out on the question, even though the biologist would be well trained in genetics. That is unless they work for California and the Fish and Gestapo. The difference is the biologist shares the information with others. So how about you breeders sharing the stuff with us? Perhaps a non-flaming forum would be appropriate, where people simply report what they get with specific crosses. Then we could compile them and see what patterns emerge. One last thing for you organizations to think about. Most (or all) of you class albinism as a pattern. I think this confuses the issue because albinism is a metabolic defect preventing the manufacturing of pigments. The genes masked by this lack of pigment could range from black sable to silver mitt. They would express if the individual could make pigments. Think of it this way; assuming they were albinistic, who would be willing to take African, Asian, and European humans and classify them in a new category? Good luck. Albinism is a NON-pattern. Dark-eyed whites ARE a pattern as are the rest of the brood. I was asked repeatedly what is the difference between a dark-eyed white and an albino. Its easy; an albino is a ferret that has genes for pattern and color, but cannot make pigments. A dark-eyed white is a ferret that has the metabolic pathways to make pigment, but they have genes that express white or light color or pattern. Now, if you REALLY wnat to get confused, it is entirely possible to selectively breed an animal so its genes express white fur coloration, reduced or removed eye pigmentation, and still has an active metabolic pathway to make pigments. So you could have a red-eyed white pretending to be an albino. Want to know how to tell them apart? While it is fairly easy to breed for white fur and light-colored eyes, the skin will still produce melanin in non-albinos. The trickster will have pigments in the skin, and the albino won't. So if ya can tan, yer not alban'. Oh! And now for you non-believers who can't understand how a panda can be part of the sable continuum. Sable polecats have white on their mask, ear tips, and chin. They also have a small white bib on the throat. Sable ferrets are similar but with even more white. Expand the bib and face patches and you have a blaze. Expand it some more, and you have a light head, with small or no mask/eye patches. Ooooooo, a panda from a sable. A continuum. Bob C and the 17 MO Monsters all dressed in Hawaiian print shirts, sporting cool shades and sipping pina coladas out on the beach in the California sun. [Posted in FML issue 1926]