What's funny is that ferrets have been domesticated for thousands of years for a similar purpose as cats but they're still viewed as wild or exotic by many. California and Hawaii still prohibit ownership of ferrets out of fear that they will harm native wildlife populations. Yet cats are completely legal and are much more capable hunters in every situation other than underground burrows. And anyone who has owned or interacted with a pet ferret knows how completely useless they would be surviving in the wild on their own. They have zero self preservation instinct.