I don't remember where I read this, but cats and ferrets were used on ships crossing the oceans to control rat problems on board. The ferrets would flush the rats and mice out of the grain bins and other crevices, and the cats would kill and eat the rodents. Ferrets have also been used for rat fights (a crude sport like cock fighting or dog fighting), where the ferret was turned loose in an area filled with rats, and the winner of the matches was the owner of the ferret who killed the most rats in the allotted amount of time. Thankfully, some sports die with time. Pam [Posted in FML issue 2087]