Ferret

The rendering in the Authorized Version of the Hebrew "anaḳah" (Lev. xi. 30). The Septuagint has μυγάλη ("shrew-mouse"); but from the context it appears that some kind of lizard is meant. The Revised Version gives "gecko" (see Lizard). Some identify the ferret with the "telailan," which the striped "taḥash" is said to resemble (Shab. 28a). The tela-ilan is described by the 'Aruk as a "small animal resembling a cat; unclean, striped, and trained to catch rabbits; called in Arabic 'zabzib,' and in Greek  [?]."

Bibliography:

  * L. Levysohn, Zoologie des Talmuds, p. 95.



E. G. H. I. M. C.