Thanks Bob, your post was very illuminating. *groan*

The more I deal with ferrets, even after all these years, the more
questions I have about some of their behaviors and how they relate to
polecats, their well-being and all that stuff.

Even on very hot days, my mob love to bask in the sunshine at different
times of the day. Have a look at:

http://au.blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-RqTM_joic6_wlvI0IE5ORQoLvPO_
to see a couple of samples.

I agree that sunshine is not only very enjoyable for ferrets but
contributes to their overall well-being.

I also agree that caging is very detrimental to the mental and physical
health of ferrets. Even if ferrets are only caged overnight, that is at
least one third of their LIFE spent in confinement. One can use all
sorts of justifications for caging, but I suspect it has more to do
with what is convenient rather than what is best for the ferrets.

If you have ever been the parent of a teenager with a newly acquired
driver’s license who has asked to borrow the keys to the family car,
you will be aware of the fine line between the acceptance of reasonable
risk and unreasonable fear. (If you're like me, you hand over the keys
and then spend the rest of the time waiting for the knock at the door.)

My ferrets have always been free of cages and able to come and go
outside as they please, even when I'm asleep or when I was at work.
My ferrets have yet to have had a misadventure because of this. Well,
there was one time that my house was burgled while I was at work and
2 ferrets stolen; thank goodness they were not caged because many
more of them would have been stolen too.

The answer lies in truly wanting what is best for your ferrets and in
meticulous ferret-proofing of the area available to them.

The down-side is (There is always be a down-side, isn't there?) that
you may have to pick up a bit more extra “ferret whoopsies”.

You could look at:
http://www.ferretclub.org.au/showcontent.toy?senid=10302&contentnid=189329

It's an article called "Room to Move" that I wrote some time ago.

Cheers,
Shirley

[Posted in FML 5555]