Okay, I love ferrets, I do, but I don't want to just add them without getting input just because I want them. XD hehe. Well, I figured that since we have cats, and terrier dogs for that, it's perfectly logical that ferrets could have been brought over as well, yes? I'd expect these ferrets to be large, anywhere from 3 to 8 pounds and fully capable of hunting vermin. They wouldn't be very common, but still around.

Because of the physiology of ferrets though, males would have to be neutered or vasectomized unless they were breeders as pets, but as vermin killers, the aggression from being intact (or at least vasectomized) would probably be important. Females would rarely be kept as pets unless a vasectamized male was also owned to stop their heat cycle, or an intact male if they intended to have more ferrets. Female ferrets will die of stress and will not go out of heat either until the season changes (which their body reacts when the days become shorter) or they are serviced. Still, it's still very much possible since ferrets were used for almost a thousand years hunting rabbits and vermin back in the day when they couldn't 'fix' ferrets back in ye olden days.

Also, I'm going to start a discussion on dog breeds eventually.. but that's for another discussion.

Ooh! Can we use ferrets to hunt tunnel snakes?

Yep, that's what I'm invisioning one of their uses to be. I'd imagine them to be much more agile than the goofy little pet ferrets we own nowadays (though I love them so much =D) and have almost a mongoose aspect to them, able to take down a tunnelsnake much bigger than themselves. I'd even imagine they might be more effective than dogs or cats.

I'll start by saying that I don't mind either way if you wish to introduce ferrets.

From a canon perspective, I'm not sure they would have been allowed. Ferrets are weasel cousins, and weasels get uncontrollably into things like chicken populations that would have been so dear to the colonists. They may have been too much of a loose cannon for consideration aboard the ships.

I'm voting no for that reason only, but again, I will be perfectly content if I'm overruled and ferrets are brought into play.

Canon-ly, I'm not a big fan of the idea. If we introduce dogs, there's already a vermin hunting breed, so I don't really see the necessity of an extra animal to do the same job. I wouldn't object vehemently to the addition, I would just prefer to keep the animal population of the Weyr to a minimum. After all, drudges and Candidates have enough to do without getting put on ferret dropping pickup duty, too. ;)

True true. Ferrets, if added, would certainly be very rare creatures that would probably only have a few specialized trainers and breeders of them. I just see ferrets being more efficient at the job. If you don't know what I mean... you should watch a ferret slide underneath a door if their head can fit under it. Never seen a dog, or even a cat do that. Hehe. Like whers, they'd be carefully controlled and bred, and certainly wouldn't be living wild. Of course, this is why I brought it up =D These decisions aren't just up to me ;D