Are ferrets domestic pets, not wild animals? Why?

(The following information is taken from FML (Ferret Mailing List) posts by Bob Church in July of 1998.) There is a difference between tamed and domesticated. A tamed animal has been conditioned to tolerate a human presence, but, aside from conditioning, the animal is in all respects the same as other wild members of its species. Just because an animal is domesticated does not mean it is tamed (ex: a feral barnyard cat). Domestication is a biological process, where natural selection is replaced by human selection There are numerous definitions, but if you compare them all, three criteria seem to be important. The organism's breeding must be under human control, the organism must have some sort of change from the ancestral species, and the organism must provide a service or product that is beneficial to humans. So, simply put, domestication is the process by which human selection causes changes in an organism which are intended for human benefit or advantage. Ferrets are certainly under human influence.

How long have ferrets been domesticated?

Despite much confusion, however, the current belief is that ferrets are not mentioned in the Bible. Early translations, including the older King James versions, translate one particular word in Leviticus as "ferret," but the modern King James and most other new translations have rejected this as an error, instead using "gecko" or "lizard".

Nevertheless, it is clear from other archaeological and historical sources that ferrets have been domesticated for quite a while, at least 2500 years. According to information from Bob Church, ferrets were mentioned in 450-425 BC in plays by Aristophanes, by Aristotle around 350 BC, and by Pliny in AD 79, for example.

Bob Church writes:

The origin of the domesticated ferret, unlike that of many domesticated species, is still unknown. Historical documents from Greece mention the ferret about 450 BC, and Roman documents mention the use of ferrets to hunt rabbits at about the time of Christ, but these were already domesticated animals. To this date, no skeletal remains have been recovered which could be shown to be ancient domesticated ferrets. Most evidence supports the idea the ferret was domesticated from the European polecat, but the idea that the ferret was domesticated from the steppe polecat, although unlikely, has not been ruled out.

One popular notion is the ferret was domesticated by the Egyptians, but this idea has little evidence to support it. Considering the rich and varied faunal remains and mummies recovered in Egypt [but no ferret remains], and the lack of European or steppe polecats within that region, it is probably untrue. Another idea is the ferret was already domesticated by the time it entered the Mediterranean area. While this idea is more likely, it still suffers from a lack of evidence, but explains the historical documents and fits the modern biological evidence. A third idea is the ferret was domesticated in the Mediterranean area, perhaps in Greece or by the Phoenicans, but again, this idea is hampered by a lack of evidence.

What is likely is the ferret was domesticated to hunt small animals, primarily rabbits, with the side benefit of domain mousing. It is likely that the ferret was most popular with the lower classes, which would explain the lack of early evidence and documentation (Until recently, archaeologists didn't concern themselves with the common people; royal tombs and golden artifacts were the primary goal). This emphasis has shifted in recent years, and it is likely that archaeological remains will be found that can be conclusively shown to be from the domesticated ferret. Some may already exist, stored in museums, awaiting the careful study of a future zooarchaeologist. Until then, the origin of the ferret is obscure, with a probable date of domestication prior to 2500 years ago.

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