California ferret activists push to overturn ban on ownership

[The Straight Story]

California ferret activists push to overturn ban on ownership

Despite years of failure in their campaign, ferret lovers hope 2012 is the year that California legalizes their favorite animal.

A pro-ferret group is hunting for a legislative sponsor for its bill to overturn the state's ban on ferret ownership. California bans ferrets as a menace to agriculture, a position that ferret activists vigorously dispute.

A party at which volunteers will address information packets to state legislators is set for Thursday night at the La Mesa home of ferret activist Patrick Wright of www.LegalizeFerrets.org.

Wright is also recruiting ferret owners to testify on the matter at a Feb. 2 meeting of the state Fish and Game Commission in Sacramento.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/california-ferret-activists-ownership-ban.html

[HappyMe]

1. Ferret activists?!

Omg! Funniest, strangest thing I've seen today.





edited to add - Legalize them, don't criticize them...

[Yo_Mama]

4. I'm glad it's not just me being weird

Something about "ferret activists" --- I'm not sure whether it takes activism to the point at which we are all activists on something or another, or just the conjunction of the visual terms.

[HappyMe]

9. At first, I imagined a bunch of rodents in ties

petitioning, arguing, bribing...

Then I thought about a bunch of people who got to the giant activist meeting way too late. The only cause left was ferrets.



The whole story is funny.

[Yo_Mama]

32. I imagined a bunch of small weaselly mammals

marching with signs "End the Discrimination!" "Freedom for Ferrets - Join 3F Now".

[TheWraith]

42. Ferrets are actually pretty cute.

I used to own a pair. They're smart, very playful, feisty, sleep about 21 hours a day, and go absolutely wild the other 3 hours.

[Yo_Mama]

48. Yes, but they are related to weasels

I think weasels are attractive too, but then I also think mice are quite beautiful little creatures.

Ferrets do whiff though!

[TheWraith]

49. Domesticated ferrets usually have their scent glands removed.

Once that's done, they generally just smell like lint, from their habit of sleeping wherever they can curl up in your socks.

[slackmaster]

13. Ferret ownership was the pet issue of Judge Jan Goldsmith when he was an Assembly member

He's now the City Attorney here in San Diego.

[NSojac]

37. Legalize them

And tax them fore revenue.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Shouldn't this be in the Ferret Fanciers Group ?

No ferrets : no legging.

Ferret legging, also known as put 'em down[2] and ferret-down-trousers,[3][4] is a sport that seems to have been popular among coal miners in Yorkshire, England.[5][6] The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English defines it as "an endurance test or stunt in which ferrets are trapped in pants worn by a participant".[7] The male-only contestants put live ferrets inside their trousers; the winner is the one who is the last to release the animals. The world record is five hours and thirty minutes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret_legging

[badtoworse]

17. More on Reg Mellor

http://deadspin.com/5546844/the-king-of-the-ferret-leggers-the-classic-tale-of-the-sportsmen-who-put-carnivores-down-their-pants

You really have to wonder about the Brits sometimes.

[Blue_Tires]

50. wait...what??

how bored and drunk were those coal miners to even dream this up??

[TwilightGardener]

3. I've never heard of ferrets being a menace to agriculture.

[Scootaloo]

6. They can make a real mess if you let them near a chicken

And since they're able to squeeze into the darnedest places, a population of feral ferrets could, in fact, cause a lot of problems for chicken and rabbit farmers. Of course such a population will obliterate the local wildlife first. Which is the main point of the (very extensive) list of species banned for import to California.

But hey, Syrian hamsters got an exception, and they can literally become a plague, so what the heck.

[Motown_Johnny]

10. Will the ferrets eat the hamsters?

If so.....

[Scootaloo]

35. I dunno, hamsters are tough little bastards...

[Yo_Mama]

8. They are definitely a threat to poultry farmers

But they are even more a threat to local small fauna in CA. Here's the page about it:
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/nongame/nuis_exo/ferret/ferret_issues_4.html

[intaglio]

5. How the H#// are ferrets a menace to agriculture?

They control rodents and rabbits


Just thought ... it has to be chickens that are supposedly threatened, though I have never heard a farmer in the UK complain.

[XemaSab]

7. I was under the impression

that they're illegal 'cause they're a menace to our native species. Ditto for gerbils.

[slackmaster]

16. The menace posed by ferrets pales in comparison to the horrors of the most popular domestic pet

[Aerows]

20. Exactly

I adore my cat, but there is no doubting that she is a predator of the highest order. I'm waiting for the day that she drags a dead pit bull home because it looked at her funny. She is no joke when it comes to being a huntress.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. I think this is a rare example of a proper time to use the term 'pet issue'.

Although I do understand it, as people wind up with secret ferrets or they get separated when they transfer to CA. I think they should make an issue out of their pets getting to stay with their humans. I knew an undocumented ferret in CA years ago. Lots of hiding the ferret from landlords, authorities of all kinds. Stupid. Free the ferrets!

[Aerows]

12. Ferrets are illegal in CA?

That's odd. They make great pets if you train them correctly. I always wanted a descented skunk. They make very interesting pets, as well, so I'm told. Both are intelligent and curious.

Meanwhile, I'd like to get rid of the animals that *THINK* they are my pets, raccoons that stop by to visit all of the time to eat the cat food if I forget to bring the bowls in. I went out one night thinking, "Oh, look at the three big kitties on the porch". It was dark. When I went outside, I realized, "Oh, those aren't kitties." They just looked at me like, "Oh, hello, we want a handout." Absolutely fearless critters.

[slackmaster]

14. It's a stupid law and should have been overturned decades ago

There is no legitimate reason to bar people from owning domestically bred pet ferrets.

I always wanted a descented skunk.

Those are perfectly legal in California.

[Aerows]

15. Wait...

A descented skunk is perfectly legal, but a ferret isn't? That is a crock!

Skunks are of the weasel family too and will eat a chicken just as quickly as a ferret will.

[slackmaster]

18. The skunk has to be domestically bred for it to be a legal pet in California

You can't capture a wild one and keep it.

[Aerows]

19. No, nor would you want to

The domesticated ones have far better temperments, and obviously, you want the musk glands removed. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't eat a chicken as quickly as a ferret would. They might not be as adept at hunting, but for that matter, I'm sure cats could be much more of a threat than either to local fauna.

It's goofy though that they allow skunks and cats but ferrets are deemed some huge threat.

[Snake Alchemist]

23. Are ferrets native to California?

Cane toads make great pets too.

[Aerows]

25. Ferrets and Martens

Are natively distributed across the Northern Hemisphere. Many members of the weasel family are represented natively.

[Snake Alchemist]

26. Many species of toads in Australia too. nt

[Aerows]

27. My herpetology knowledge doesn't extend to Australia

So I'm not certain what species reside there.

EDIT: Oh, I see, you are saying that the Cane Toads that were introduced unsuccessfully into Australia simply because they have other toads there is equivalent.

I disagree with that premise because the difference between a domestic ferret and it's wild equivalent really doesn't change all that much. A bobcat isn't a household cat, but it impacts the environment that same way. The Cane Toad has not eaten the Australian beetles like it has in other countries.

Perhaps it will adapt in time, now that it is there?

It's always a crap shoot to introduce a new species to an area. Sometimes the effect is beneficial to humans, whom are also introducing themselves into the area, and sometimes it isn't. Cane toads have been helpful from what I have read on islands.

[Snake Alchemist]

29. If a bobcat has a similar effect as a domestic cat, why does the bob cat population seriously

lag behind that of feral cats?

Actually, the Cane Toad does eat the beetles. Just the ones at the bottom of the sugar cane.

[Aerows]

30. Cats are predators

Housecats can predate on everything from birds to small mammals, to anything they can catch. They are highly efficient predators, much more so than many species. They aren't going anywhere. I fail to see how this is an argument against ferrets, since cats will eventually hunt ferrets, despite their weasel reputation.

Or, the ferrets will evolve, as has happened for thousands of years, take up with coyotes and hunt along with them. They are intelligent mammals.

Weasels are a fascinating group of animals. They have been hunted for their coats, but as accessory to hunting, there is nothing finer. They have a personality given to being cooperative.

[Snake Alchemist]

31. The question remains why bobcats are not nearly the problem that feral cats have become.

It seems to undermine your premise that they are so similar that there is no harm in introducing them to an area.

Just look at the effect the brown tree snake has had in areas it has been introduced.

And then there is this:

Pacific Islands (including Hawaii) had hundreds of species of snail which occurred only on these islands (endemic species). The right-hand picture shows a Hawaiian species of Achatinella; there were about 42 species of this genus present on the island of Oahu. The giant African land snail (Achatina fulica) was introduced in many islands, with some idea of eating it, but the giant snails escaped and rapidly started to eat the local snails. Then a second snail-eating snail species was introduced: Euglandina rosea (middle picture; the rosy wolf snail), native in Florida-middle America. This species can eat the giant African snail, but turned out to eat the local, endemic species much faster than it ever ate any African snails. On Hawaii, 71% of endemic species are now extinct. On Tahiti and Moorea many species of the endemic snail Partula are extinct, but a handful (from the 64 species of Partula originally present on Tahiti) are still hanging on.

[Aerows]

33. I don't argue that cats are a predator

They are, and they are a highly efficient predator. They aren't going away, though, and to pretend that they are less of a threat than a ferret is ludicrous.

As I said, it's always a crap shoot when you introduce new species to an area. Sometimes they behave as you wish, sometimes they don't.

[Aerows]

39. I think we actually agree

That introduction of new species to an area can be a lottery, in that it can benefit the area or be a detriment.

Thanks for the information on snails. I'm not as well-informed on all of the creatures on our planet as I am on mammals.

[Aerows]

24. Speaking of the weasel family

I thought this was interesting. Coyotes and badgers hunt together in partnership.

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/coyotes-badgers-find-food1.htm

[TheWraith]

43. Regarding those raccoons...

A string of firecrackers set off somewhere nearby make a excellent deterrent for most critters. I've had to use that technique myself once or twice, mostly on possums.

[Aerows]

44. I had a possum issue, too

Oh my word, they look like something from another planet. They have got to be the ugliest looking things I have ever seen. The possum issue was settled by moving the garbage can I kept on the porch back inside. The thing got into the garbage can every chance it got, and the cat didn't even deter it because it was HUGE.

I won't be setting off firecrackers, because while I am annoyed by them, I love animals. I am wary of rabies, but ultimately, it's my fault for being irresponsible that they came around in the first place. I didn't realize there was so much wildlife around here, and the cat food left out for my pet was probably an irresistible temptation for them. It still shocked the hell out of me when I found them on the porch. They didn't even really run, they just looked at me like I was the cat food messiah, and were waiting for more.

[TheWraith]

46. I hear you about loving animals, but we're part of nature too.

Just as they wouldn't accept another animal encroaching into their territory, you demonstrating yours can be very effective in maintaining a healthy respect on their part.

Those possums are not just ugly, they're also INCREDIBLY dangerous. A raccoon might fight if it's cornered, but they're generally very even-tempered animals. Possums on the other hand are just mean little bastards, and think anywhere they happen to be is their turf. I've adopted a very rigorous anti-possum policy in order to keep my cats safe.

[Aerows]

45. And regarding that possum

The damn thing hissed at me. Here I was, blithely going to smoke a cigarette on the porch at night, and here is this creature hissing at me. It showed it's teeth and then ran away, rat tail switching.

It scared me to DEATH.

Then I caught it in the small garbage can I kept on the porch to toss out things, and when I turned the garbage can over with it in it, it HISSED at me again.

No more leaving the garbage can out over night, I can tell you that!

[Nuclear Unicorn]

21. It's not a ban

It's a manufacturing standard.

[DefenseLawyer]

22. Also, let's not forget -

let's *not* forget, Dude - that keeping wildlife, an amphibious rodent, for uh, domestic, you know, within the city - that aint legal either.

[yellowcanine]

28. Ferret activist spotted

[Aerows]

34. Cute

Cute little weasel

[arely staircase]

36. nice marmot nt

[Aerows]

38. Marmot?

Marmots aren't weasels. Weasels are smart.

[DefenseLawyer]

40. Phone's ringin', Dude. n/t

[Aerows]

41. Yep

And I didn't pick it up.

[arely staircase]

47. uh, this is a private residence. nt