Nothing new.
Kalifornia has had issues with pet ferrets for
many years.
I knew about the ferret ban when I lived there from 1989 to 1999.
It's all in black and white, a law unique to Kalifornia, (as are many) but it's there for the reading.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_n4_v28/ai_18684657The folks I knew who owned ferrets out there were smart enough not to talk about them, and bought cat food, or drove to Nevada to buy ferret chow.
(Not unlike all the EBR owners out there who simply went underground vs. registering them with the Kalifornia DOJ...)
Things may be looking up for Kalifornicators, though. The Department of Fish & Game is due to release an Environmental Impact study, after being pressured to legalize ferret ownership out there by the Kalifornia Assembly.
I'd be more worried about feral cats, packs of wild dogs, and hordes of unsterilized San Franciscans than I ever would a population of wild ferrets, honestly.
The Ag stations?
There were big problems with produce being transported into the state with all sorts of potentially damaging vectors/blights/etc. Kalifornia crops were at serious risk, and we all know which state is a leader in agricultural products. Hence the Ag inspections stations.
Hawaii does something very similar.