Legalize Ferrets Fun and Pre-EIR Report Makes it Relevant
About 65 attended the Legalize Ferrets Revival in Concord yesterday. Attendance was slightly less than hoped for but the quality of the speakers and the attendees made for a terrific day on ferrets and ferret legalization.
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| Bob Church did double duty, talks on ferret learning and the New Zealand ferrets |
Dorris Gentry, the Republican candidate in the 7th Assembly District told us she expected to be elected and she's here to help fight ridiculous laws such as the ferret ban. (more details here) |
Dr Gandolfi talked about how adrenal disease in ferret is caused and about the ways to prevent it. He also donated several certificates to help LegalizeFerrets.org |
Melinda T gave an outstanding presentation on what to expect from your first ferret. Expect to see Melinda on the national speaking tour - and remember, I discovered her. |
Jeanne Carley gave a great presentation on how she makes those calendars. But she gave her talk in the dark, so I didn't get a photo. Click here for more information.
The room was great, the hotel and staff were terrific, everything went well.
A Great Reason to be Excited
On Monday the much anticipated report from Sacramento State University was released. 139 pages of a lot of detail and history.
Click Here to Download
I had time to read it pretty thoroughly this weekend on the way to Oakland and back for the Revival. I am not the best as doing a book report - but this is what I got from it.
Don't worry about threats to the environment or public health. Past research has been pretty sloppy with very little or no documentation to back up preposterous claims (OK, I've added a little editorial slant here)
And don't worry about the average Marshall Farm ferret going feral.
But, ferrets and polecats are the same animal - from the report:
| The taxonomy of the genus Mustela, and even the family Mustelidae, is not well defined taxonomically. The genus Mustela is considered a holartic (The Holarctic ecozone refers to the habitats found throughout the northern continents of the world as a whole - wikipedia) species complex that may not be able to be resolved because of hybridization. Reproductive isolation apparently is not a distinguishing character, as the polecat, steppe-polecat, ferret, and black-footed ferret can interbreed. The taxon Mustela putorious sensu lato is considered a spectrum with the polecat at one end displaying the genotype and the phenotype of an un-tame animal able to thrive in the wild and colonize suitable habitat, and the ferret at the other end, displaying the genotype and phenotype of a domesticated animal that cannot thrive in the wild. Cranial measurements (post-mortem) are the only reliable way to differentiate polecats from ferrets that are caught in the wild. The unresolved taxonomy and difficulties in identification may pose a challenge to the regulation of ferret importation. |
Bob Church's talk really made it clear - as he documented that there are feral ferrets in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. There are no documented feral ferrets in the USA. But the fear is that ferrets are legal in California. Some ferret lovers think it will be cool to have a full blooded pole cat. Polecat escapes and goes feral.
The report does say that California does not have all the conditions for a feral population to take hold. Any escaped polecats - ferrets would have to compete with other animals for food and there are a range of predators that would make the establishment of any population unlikely.
No media was generated by our report or a press conference. I have done a lot of media contact and so far no coverage. Which I consider a shame since this really is news. Copies of the report are on their way to Governor Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman. Joe Ferret is waiting in the wings. I'm not voting for anyone who won't acknowledge us.
Financial Picture
I haven't gone through the checkbook yet - but it looks like we are in ok shape. We paid Todd Dayton $1,000 towards the cost of the video and we will owe him an additional $1,000 when it is completed. (He is creating a 8 to 10 minute video on "California Ferrets - Our Story" - a nice companion piece to our very dry pre-EIR Report.)
The pre-EIR report came with an unexpected bill from Sacramento State University in the amount of $2,250. Marshall Farms is going to see if they can help with a chunk of that expense. But we're going to have to worry about that in the next couple of weeks.
Wysong sent us $565 from our affiliate with them. But actually Walter, our generous friend over there donated most of that amount. Hey Walter, there is a LegalizeFerrets calendar headed your way! Let's thank Walter and order some Wysong. I know I need to:
The calendars should be here this week - so I will get them in the mail shortly. I can't thank everyone enough who ordered them early.
I really appreciate the support people have shown. I even got two tickets to Disneyland - and when the pre-EIR report is paid, and the video not to mention Heidi, our graphic artist who did the calendar work - I'm using those tickets! thanks Michele!
In Conclusion
I'm dog tired after the Revival. So this was supposed to be an abbreviated CLIFFNotes. I'm not going to have Lance or Bonnie proof it - so please forgive the mistakes.
Next week I'll report more on what's next and where we are. But for now - a very big thank you. I don't think people realize what kind of progress we are making.
Pat Wright
619-303-0645
