Heather,

I appreciate your well written and intelligent response to my post
about the live prey feeding issue. I am sure that may people have great
success feeding live prey, raw and whole foods to their various pets,
just as many have great success with processed foods too. Unfortunatley
many people who do not know what they are doing will try live feeding
with disasterous results. I am sure there are folks on the live prey
groups you mention that have not had increased aggression - but there
are likely as many that do- and they choose not to belong to groups
promoting that diet- that is one problem with groups- they are all
pretty much self serving- not in a bad way- but they just are. An
example is a kinkajou owner list i'm on- kinks are well known to maul
(not bite or scratch- they actively maul- like in tearing off your ear)
their owners after a few years as pets- even hand raised very sweet
ones usually do it at some point- well most of the folks on that list
cant believe it bc everyone there has such wonderful friendly kinks
that have never hurt anyone- upon further discussion it comes out that
they are all owners of under 4 yr old kinks, most being under a year
even, whereas the numerous previous members left the group quietly
after their kink did in fact end up harming someone-

I do have to clarify what i said about ferrets living in a burrow- of
course any ferret will dig when given the exposure to dirt or sand or a
floor - that part is natural- but i highly doubt that a domestic ferret
can survive - certainly not thrive- living outside in the dirt in our
northern winters- even though they were originally from northern
climates in the wild- that is due to the domesticity bred into them
over very long periods of time.

One other point is that people who feed live prey tend to feel that
people who dont are depriving their ferrets of an enjoyable experience-
however many ferrets do not want to hunt at all, and playing war dance
games and other enrichements with your ferret or them wrestling with
each toher & chasing etc provides plenty of safe and healthy
stimulation- the same as a cat with a cat toy ( or empty paper bag)
does.

As long as people provide quality food, shelter, medical care, and a
loving environment the ferrets (and other critters) can be happy & live
a good long life.

Take care
Beth
www.crittercamp.biz

[Posted in FML 6227]