BS: A Romance of Ferrets?

Subject: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 04:00 AM

Move Over, 'Meerkat Manor'

A nature writer suddenly finds himself at the heart of a hot plagiarism scandal.

Newsweek Web Exclusive
Updated: 1:14 PM ET Jan 15, 2008

When I traveled to South Dakota in 2005 to write a story about black-footed ferrets, I never imagined my words about the little weasels would one day appear in a trashy romance novel. I just wanted to write an informative and entertaining piece about these endangered prairie carnivores.

Three years later my story ("Toughing It Out in the Badlands") is at the center of 2008's sexiest plagiarism scandal.
It all began when a mysterious e-mail arrived in my inbox last week with a link to a romance novel blog, www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com.

While reviewing a novel by best-selling romance writer Cassie Edwards, the self-proclaimed "smart bitches" had discovered passages that matched, word for word, my ferret story.

[endquote]

As this is a "family oriented website" I'll leave it to those who may be interested in how this hot bodice-ripping novel details the lusty practices of the ferrets in clinical (and other) detail.

There's some comment on about the species endangerment, etc., as well.

(It really is a hoot - especially if you can share with someone. Maybe Little Hawk and Chongo can get up a more complete review for us.)

Johnn

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 05:27 AM

Well!
Whatever next?
Perhaps someone ought to point out to her that ferrrets down your trousers, is not noted as an aphrodisiac.
Maybe Severn can supply us with a string of "small mammal" puns to go alongside Chongo's review?
Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Bee
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 09:18 AM

That is hilarious. Her excuse of not knowing she had to quote source materials is stupid, though - even the schlockiest (is that a word?) of romance writers should have at least a basic grasp of the legal aspects of copywrite issues, or should have been informed of them by whoever they have for editors and publishers.

And she could have gone so much further with the ferret info! Who wouldn't be aroused by the image of "making love like crazed weasels" (which is a quote from a Toronto cartoon series, I think), speaking of sources)?

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 09:21 AM

She'll try to weasel out of it.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 09:28 AM

For a stoatally different reason.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: ranger1
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 09:36 AM

She otter have known better.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 09:45 AM

Marten said to his man
Fie man fie.

G

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 09:56 AM

Oh dear.


Oh deary deary dear... what have you started?

This ties nicely into our game of replacing a word in a film/book/song title with the word 'ferret', thus creating:

A room with a Ferret

A Ferret Romance

Romancing the Ferret

Ferret Story

How the Ferret was won

When Harry met Ferret

Gone with the Ferrets

Buffy the Vampire Ferret

Chitty Chitty Bang Ferret


Some have tried to submit Weasel Rider or Stoatal Recall but that's just pushing it...

LTS













I'll get me ferret.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 09:59 AM

The woman's career as an author is probably over. She'll wear this incident as a badger of dishonor for the rest of her life.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Amos
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 09:59 AM

legal aspects of copywrite issues

I thinnk you mean copyright, something that sometimes applies to copywriters.


A

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 09:59 AM

This could cause quite a mink in the romance novel world! Mon Goose, do you have a case for a lawsuit!

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 09:59 AM

State Ferret
None but the brave deserve the ferret
Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the ferret of them all?
Ferret's a jilly good fellow.
G

Liz !!!!

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Amos
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 10:01 AM

The ferret maid that e'er I saw
Was sleeping in a pickle jar.



A

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 10:48 AM

For the curious: here's the article at the Defenders of Wildlife website, from Defenders Magazine, Summer 2005, titled Toughing It Out in the Badlands: Black-footed ferrets battle for survival in the nation's heartland by Paul Tolme.

Here's the blog page at Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books where news of the plagiarism was first broken.

Here's the article in Newsweek.

There may be more.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Bee
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 11:04 AM

Yes I did mean copyright, Amos, and I know better, too, ordinarily, having been at times a copywriter and having dealt with copyright, although not in relation to the copywriting - call it brain slippage.

Bee-dubya-ell, the woman writes trashy romances - most of her readership will never hear about this and wouldn't care if they did. her publishers won't, either, as long as it doesn't cost them an arm and a leg to soothe the nature writer's wrongs, which is unlikely.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 11:08 AM

How do I love thee? Let me count the ferrets....


Shall I compare thee to a summer's ferret?


LTS

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 11:28 AM

Shall I compare the to a summer's day.
Thou art more lovely and more ferret.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 11:50 AM

Bee-dubya-ell, the woman writes trashy romances - most of her readership will never hear about this and wouldn't care if they did. her publishers won't, either, as long as it doesn't cost them an arm and a leg to soothe the nature writer's wrongs, which is unlikely.

Yeah, I know... But I couldn't think of any other smart-ass way to insert the word "badger" into this discussion.

(Badger: very large member of the weasel family)

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 12:15 PM

The first time ever I saw your ferret....























I'll stop now.. promise....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 12:20 PM

Weasel while you work.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 12:23 PM

Is that a ferret in your pocket, or are you just weaselly?

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: open mike
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 01:30 PM

How did you manage to ferret out this information, John?
Which of those book were you reading?

Is this like a gaggle of geese, a murder of crows and a
romance of ferrets? http://www.blackfootedferret.org/

Domesticated ferrets are often kept as pets, but it is illegal
to do so in California, Hawaii, and New Hampshire, and Puerto Rico.
(although pet stores sell ferret food, toys, shampoo, nests, etc)

I have been to Wall Drug and not far from there is a prairie
dog village where you can see these little critters up close.
this store first got is't start by offering free ice water to
those travelling to see the Mount Rushmore Monument.
http://www.walldrug.com/

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 01:44 PM

open mike -

Just check the first link. It was headlined at MSNBC's "News of the Day" with a link to one of their bloglines where the article appears.

It caught my eye particularly because about half the remaining black-footed ferrets still around are a frequent topic in Kansas. "Officially" their location is a secret because they're too close to extinction to permit traffic from gawkers.

Other varieties are more plentiful, although none are really "secure" in the wild.

John

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: open mike
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 01:52 PM

a group of meercats is called a mob or gang.
http://www.wildkingdom.com/games/meerkatmunchies.html

The most commonly accepted phrase for a group of ferrets is
"a business of ferrets". Some people spell it "busyness" instead

A group of ferrets is called a business, fesnyng or fesynes.

http://www.americanhumane.org/kids/groupnames.htm

http://www.funtrivia.com/en/Animals/Animal-Groups-5340.html
A dray is a group of squirrels

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 02:03 PM

Correction: not a blog. The article I linked is the Newsweek article also linked by Jim Dixon.

The Defense of Wildlife article that Jim linked states that all the existing wild colonies are "re-introduced." The Kansas colony has no known human intervention. It was discovered a couple of years ago, and was not deliberately stocked, although there could have been an accidental release there. There's some hope that the colony is a surviving original stock, but published information doesn't indicate that anyone's getting close enough to pull DNA samples to check it out - yet.

John

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 02:07 PM

I'll bet that really got the pherretnomes going!

It does show up the vulnerability for writers. Every once in awhile I google a phrase or two from one of my writings just to see if anyone has been using them/quoting me.:-)

As a related issue, Helium is going great guns and garnering what looks to be decent traffic for writers BUT still will not allow an author to remove their works, no matter what. The promotions they come up with are enticing, but I will never post anything there again since learning that.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 02:24 PM

Pop Goes the Ferret ♫♪♫

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Michael
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 05:43 PM

Do you know how to tell a weasel from a stoat?

One is weasely recognised and the other is stoatally different.

Ay well hmmm
Mike

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 07:56 PM

Do you know how Capt. Hook lost his hand? He thought he had a pharrot on his shoulder but it was really a weasel!

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Amos
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 08:01 PM

The Ferret Original Song Challenge and the Sad Affair of Young Patrick Wright whose life was done in by ferrets.

Enjoy!


A

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 10:07 PM

Everything's illegal in California
Keeping ferrets, shootin' cougars, eatin' meat
Wearin' fur, ownin' AKs, spillin' oil upon the beaches
Divertin' rivers, surfin' sewers, sprayin' wheat.

Ain't nothin' legal in California
'Cepting growin' dope and politicos takin' bribes
Only state in the whole Union with law against 'most ever'thing
Unlike Idaho, where Senators stand wide.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 10:28 PM

Without Mudcat my life would hardly be so rich! I might have missed this poinant story, and all the clever word play, and the pain that not a single pun was left for me to post by the time I accessed this thread. But it would have been a brilliant one, although maybe not as brilliant as what has been posted.

Don't be surprised if several posts from this thread are lifted and incorporating (without attribution) in the next best-selling romance novel.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Sorcha
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 10:46 PM

Just to inject a small measure of brevity in here....the only other 'wild' colony of black footed ferrets is near Meteetse, Wyoming, exact location is also a secret. (Well, sort of a secret)

Black footed ferrets seem to be symbiotic with prairie dogs, whose fleas carry plague.

So, Flea Ferret Manor?

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 Jan 08 - 11:39 PM

Anybody have the words for "Ferrets are Illegal in Queensland"?

It's a bit of an "Alice's Resturant" saga... and based on a true story - pity I lost contact with the author...

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 04:30 AM

Look out for Harry Potter and the Endangered Prairie Carnivores.
Hermione's stoatally up ferret, but Ron's weaselly discouraged...

Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 06:41 AM

Pedant alert!

Squirrels live in a dray - it's what their nests are called. I think I can see where you got dray from, but that particular list is from people's submissions (just google collective nouns or check Wikipediment) - there's no such thing as a 'dropping of pigeons' - that's just bad grammar for pigeon poop. And never in all my life connected with dairy farming have I ever come across a 'flink of cows'....

People have heard about the dray in connection with squirrels and just put the two together. A family of squirrels may live in a dray, but it's not called a dray of squirrels.

Neither is it a lounge of lizards but that one is rather funny.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 07:24 AM

I thought Brewers lived in a Dray!
Quack!
GtD.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 07:24 AM

"It is a ferret, ferret better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a ferret, ferret better rest that I go to than I have ever known." -THE END- . ...


From A Sale of Two Titties, by Chuck Dickens.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 08:58 AM

For breakfast I eat stoatmeal because it's weasely preparted. On the otter hand, it's pretty bland.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 09:28 AM

Should try some country currants in it.. you'll find them in any field where rabbits grow.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: katlaughing
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 11:05 AM

Should have completed this with the following:

Do you know how Capt. Hook lost his hand? He thought he had a pharrot on his shoulder but it was really a weasel in his pocket!

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Amos
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 01:15 PM

That was how he lost his genitals, Kat. The hook incident was much earlier...



A

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 01:18 PM

Genital on My Mind, sung by Glen Ferret.

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Joybell
Date: 18 Jan 08 - 10:11 PM

Ringtail possum homes are called drays too.
... I'm away home to my own little garret. (broaden the "a")
If I can't have a man then I'll have to get a ferret.
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 06:40 AM

This ferret is deceased !! Grrrrrrrrrr thump thump

The Norwegian Blue Ferret sir?

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: Greg B
Date: 19 Jan 08 - 07:45 PM

I was there
so were you
the mayor and the vicar and the council too
all't'lords and ladies on full view
the night John Willie took his ferret to a 'do'...
          --- Bernard Wrigley

Subject: RE: BS: A Romance of Ferrets?
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 20 Jan 08 - 05:37 AM

I was looking for those words to post on this thread! Well done Greg B.
Giok