Long Island has long had Canine Distemper (which can look like rabies), and had a few rabid bats, but for many decades it did not have actual terrestrial rabies. That changed in recent years. http://www.antonnews.com/floralparkdispatch/2007/09/07/news/ The article is very well written and very clear. If you are in the Floral Park area (where Mom was born :-) ), PLEASE, read the above articles CAREFULLY AND FULLY so that you know what to do -- and what to not do -- if one of your ferrets, dogs, or cats finds this vaccine bait. (Or if a child bites into one.) If you might know people there with pets (which a number of you receiving this privately might), please, pass the URL along. Vaccine baits are an excellent approach, but they need to be understood by the public. There is not live rabies in the vaccine but there is a weakened version of the same virus used in small pox vaccines (not small pox, though). Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html [Posted in FML 5724]