Cultural; ferrets over cats

The rat catcher of Manchester seems to think that while ferrets and small dogs are better for dealing with heavy infestations, cats are better for the low level stuff.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17243/17243-h/17243-h.htm

Plus cats were well established in Greek and Roman culture. Euripides mentions pet cats in Alcestis, and the Romans exported cats everywhere. They're a better urban feral than ferrets.

Ferrets are banned is some US jurisdictions. This is pure class warfare. Ferreting for rabbits was considered a low class "redneck" form of hunting. Ferrets were banned to undo this form of hunting.

I understand that in parts of Europe ferrets are much more popular than they are in the US. Is this true?
:confused: What are you smoking and where do I get some to supply my friends
 
I wouldn't say it was wilder, I'd call them less tameable, yet my father reared one. It wasn't exactly a housecat, but it was cuddly. I wasn't referring to Felis sylvestris. I was referring to the lynx (both European species - Lynx lynx and Lynx pardinus).

My fault, I didn't specify.

Well, I suppose I could have typed "domestic" before "cats" but since we were talking about pets from the beginning you'll understand that I left lynxes out. Hell, even the Eurasian wildcat does not like being around people or domestic animals very much. Recent research has also showed that their assumed level of inbreeding with domestic cats is highly overestimated and that outside of Scotland (where the population is basically on its last ropes and well, they just have to take what there is around to procreate) wildcats tend to avoid breeding with house and feral cats.

however, this is an extremely interesting thread. i had no idea that ferrets were once more common. so, theoretically, as long as a western european power does not control egypt and spread its culture, then the ferret will remain more commonly used?

In a way, yes. I've sometimes wondered if the bad rap that cats got during the Dark Ages had something to do with the fact that the animal was pretty much a rarity to the Germanic peoples at the time of the barbarian invasions.

Another way would be to spread the European rabbit earlier. It was an Iberian endemism before the Carthaginians and the Romans took it out and didn't get to England until the Norman invasion.
 
I am not sure, what you mean by rednecks? I live in the South and have many "redneck" relatives and until recently most of them had never even heard of ferrets much less used them for hunting.:confused:

The bans worked.

I don't think that ferreting for rabbits was that common in the US, just that where it was common it was considered low class. I used the term "redneck" as a contemporary term that might convey how ferret ban advocates might have depicted ferreters.
 
:confused: What are you smoking and where do I get some to supply my friends

I misspoke, laws were passed to restrict ferreting to the poor people who worked for rich people. Po' folks couldn't use ferrets by themselves.

Later on people became taken with the idea that ferrets were good vectors for rabies. They are actually poor vectors. Since ferrets were uncommon and already restricted some places, outright bans were easy to pass.

An advantage some have already mentioned is that cats smell better. And cats bury their pee and poop, while ferrets like to stash it in edges and corners. Ferrets can be box trained, but they often find baseboards irresistible.
 
Cats certainly do tend to be a lot more people-friendly than ferrets. The weasley ones are rather bitey.
An early penchant for small gaps between the ground and floorboards means animals that can get into those small spaces are popular?
 
Actually, I am told they like to be petted, and come over to see their masters... and very, very playfull.
They have a lot of different personalities. I had two ferrets once. One was playful and fun, the other was kinda bitey, avoided people, and had a penchant for taking pens and toys that had rubber in them, and hording them in its hidden lair like some kind of altar. It was creepy. Especially because its hidden lair turned out to be my drawer and when I opened it if the ferret was there and in a grumpy mood, I've have a painful surprise.
 
No they chitter.
The problem with ferrets is they smell and need to be washed often.

Ferrets actually don't smell at all unless they're washed often. Aside from the "skunk-gland" which is almost always removed early, it's washing them that causes the smell because their skin works extra hard to replace the oil that's been washed out of their fur.

Little tidbit of fun there, for you.
 
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