Hi All -
 
Sorry I missed the original post about biting a ferret that bites.  A
couple of thoughts, having dealt with more than my share of biters over
the years.  One of our worst cases I adopted and she used to sleep with
me :)  In 5 years, only nailed me twice while I was alseep :)
 
Early in Vanessa's and my ferret careers, an exceptionally well respected
shelter operator recommended biting a biting ferret - but only as one of
a number of techniques to deal with a biter and usually as a last resort.
The advice, of course, came with caveats.
 
First, the intent was NEVER to harm the ferret.  Any "bite" was to merely
illustrate a point - that was to attempt to establish dominence over the
ferret.  And it really wasn't a bite - rather it was a mouthing similar
to what a dominent dog will do to another or a mom to her kits.
 
For those who run shelters or who have large numbers of ferrets
coming/going/interacting - you will quickly note that some ferrets need
to establish a heirarchy of sorts.  While not pack animals, there are
certain ferrets whose sole purpose in life is to be alpha over everyone.
(My foster ferret, Basil Rathborne, is one).  ANY new ferret arrives here
(even some of the ferrets I board) needs to be grabbed by the nap and
shook - at least 5 to 6 times a day - with decreasing frequency over
time.  It does not matter that the other ferret couldn't care less --
some do, some don't, some run like hades, and others turn around and
beat him up!
 
This is the only dominence behavior I've observed in ferrets.  It's
usually biting, though Basil also likes to do a side-swipe body slam at
the same time.
 
The intent of biting a biter was to try to establish the human's
dominence over the biter.  So biting a ferret is not so far fetched!
 
Actually, I have to say I never saw it work with any biters I ran across.
Maybe because I never expereienced a ferret who bit because they were
trying to be dominent.  Or else this dumb human just didn't "get" the
message!  Most often the biting was caused by "abuse" of some kind by
the former ower.  And not always clear cut signs of abuse, either!
 
My sister Vanessa who runs the FACT shelter wrote a great article about
biting that you can read at:
 
http://www.ferret-fact.org/BehBite.htm
 
In it she refers to "controversial" metods of stoping biting.  Biting a
biting ferret is one of them.
 
That said, I don't recommend it as I haven't seen it work.  Time outs do
not work.  Yelling doesn't work.  The only "best" solution is to use what
human's do best - observe and analyze when, how, and why the bites occur
and to do something else we humans are good at - voluntarily adjusting
OUR behavior to resolve the problem!
 
BTW - My Cujo had been hit - clearly with enough force or enough times
that it took months before we could pick her up.  Eventually she stopped
biting when she learned to trust us not to every hurt her: Except: if she
was approached from behind without warning, she would immediately turn
and draw blood.  Clearly, both times she bit me while asleep I must have
moved my hand and inadvertently startled her.  Clearly the harm from her
former life ran deep within her.  I miss her a lot and look forward to
being reunited at the Bridge.
 
Ann Gruden
Ferret Assn of CT
[Posted in FML issue 5348]