it sounds like an absolutely nightmarish experience, but i have to say,
you are *so* lucky to have never been attacked before.
 
i would never admit it elsewhere because i hate to see ferrets get bad
press, but i've been the victim of quite a few attacks a lot like that
with unsocialised ferrets at the pet store.
 
the one that springs to mind is "Twitch" who was about 9 weeks old when she
arrived, rather than 6 like most kits.  i suspect she'd never even felt a
human touch besides when she was spayed.  she was really high strung, and
at first she would bite and latch on hard repeatedly every time you reached
into her cage.  i mean, like, blood everywhere.  she would run at you from
wherever in the cage she was and just *bite*.  when she bit on, you
couldn't open her mouth... but she wasn't rabid.  she was always high
strung, up until the day she sold (to an experienced owner) and if she got
startled while i was cuddling her (she relaxed after a while if it was
quiet and no one yelled) she would attack my face and neck... but she
wasn't rabid.
 
a lot of ferrets get that way if they are unsocialised and frightened.
some animals try to run if they are scared.  ferrets (and hamsters in my
experience:) bite and attack and try to drive you off.  with ferrets, they
will often continue to attack if you scream or yell (trust me, the first
few times Twitch went at my neck i squealed like a pig!)because those
noises are really frightening and they wind them up more.  i don't think
that you could have done anything differently from what you did,
particularly considering that bite on the ferrets neck, but i just don't
want people to think that this kind of thing never happens with healthy
ferrets.  it does, just like it can happen with healthy cats and dogs.
some animals have mind problems, and some animals react violently when
they are frightened, and an unsocialised animal is always unpredictable.
 
siani
[Posted in FML issue 2888]