This post is definitly not meant to feed "Ferrets Are Dangerous Because
They Can Attack For No Reason" mentality, but to show that there can be
underlying reasons that might not be thought of right away.
 
My boyfriend and I recently bought a 2 year old female ferret from the
local classifieds.  Her owner brought her over to our house to see if she
would get along with us and our 2 boys.  We had asked how she was at
biting, and the response was "She'll nip at ankles, but nothing serious."
Since my 2 were similar in the nipping department, and everyone seemed to
be getting along, we bought Kiki.
 
The rest of the night went ok.  I got one chomp when I was holding her,
but regarded it as "I'm scared and I want down, NOW!" kinda bite.  We kept
reassuring her she was ok, but tried not to stress her out by picking her
up too much.
 
The next night was a different story.  I came home from work and took a
shower to relax.  The ferrets were out playing when I got out of the
shower, so I sat down on the love seat to play with them.  Kiki comes over,
so I pick her up and set her in my lap.  Next thing I know, she is trying
to bite my arm off.  Without thinking, I scruffed her and yelled NO and put
her on the floor.  This was a different bite than the night before, where
she had bit me once to get down, instead of multiple bites to my arm.
 
My boyfriend comes over to see what's going on.  I told him what happend
and he proceeds to pick her up and is lavished by kisses.  After a few
minutes, he puts her on my lap so I can pet her, but again she starts
attacking my arms with very hard bites.  By now I'm starting to cry, both
from the pain and from the fact that she's attacking me for no reason.  My
boyfriend scruffs her, scolds her, and puts her in the time out cage.  10
minutes later, we decide to try it again.  Same result.  Now I'm bawling
because my arms hurt, and because my bf says we're gonna have to give her
back.  (Meanwhile, she has never attacked my bf, but instead has given him
kisses).
 
We keep trying to think of reasons she is only attacking me.  Had she been
abused by a woman before we got her?  Was I doing something to upset her
as she sat in my lap?  Did she like the way I tasted or smelled and wanted
to eat me?  When we got around to this theory, my boyfriend runs into the
bathroom and starts washing his hands and arms with my body wash.  He comes
out, picks Kiki up, and she starts attacking his arms.  Bingo!  So we both
go, wash our arms with a different soap, and, volia -- no more bites!  The
body wash ended up in the garbage but at least my little girl is no longer
attacking me.  So it's something to remember when you do hear of (or
witness) an attack.  There can be underlaying circumstances -- you just
might not think of the right away.
 
Rowan
 
*Sigh* As I'm writing this e-mail in a Fuzzy Free Room, I hear a crash from
the living room.  One of my boys has managed to jump to the coffee table,
grab my half full cup of iced tea from Burger King and dragged it off the
other end of the table.  He seems very disappointed that it isn't Mountain
Dew, because he is staring at the puddle he made, but doesn't like the
taste of it.  Guess I have to move the coffee table further away again. :)
[Posted in FML issue 2987]