I normally just skim the FML and only stop to read something
interesting - or Alexandra's stuff cuz she's SUCH a great writer - but
I have noticed all the bashing of Ed here. I didn't really pay much
attention to his original post because I don't have a biter, and I have
found that ferrets bite for diff reasons. I had 2 that as they grew
old, would just latch on to you for NO reason and tear out a chunk of
leg or arm. I suppose it was old age and hormone issues or adrenal as
both were about 7. Then I have my deaf boy who I finally got to give
kisses (after many bloody lips) just by being gentle and teaching him
sign language for kisses (when I sign for him to kiss, he squints his
eyes, and licks his lips just like my hearing ferrets do when I ask
them verbally for a kiss so I know he understands!). And I had a ferret
or 2 that hated squeaky toys - any squeak of those toys would not only
bring them running, but you'd best get as high off the ground with no
way for a ferret to get to you as possible and STAY there for at least
10 minutes or you'd be attacked! Ok, so w/those ferrets, I did away
with squeaky toys. And this I would like to possibly use as an example
to Mr Ed for why that baby was attacked by the ferret while the parents
slept. I'm sure the baby began to cry and maybe screech which either
hurt the ferrets ears, or he thought it was the high pitched screech
of a mouse or other prey and attacked it. Who knows what lurks in the
minds of each individual ferret? Why is it some people hear nails down
a chalk board and it makes their back teeth hurt (me!) and others pay
it no mind? For SOME reason, these ferrets do NOT like the high pitched
sounds of squeaky toys OR babies crying (good reason to NEVER leave a
ferret alone with a baby, much less mix them AT ALL!!)

Anyway, all I really caught was that Mr Ed said to starve the ferret
for something like 3 days? Here's my question to that method. If you
don't give the ferret anything to eat, then offer it soup on your
finger, aren't you just asking to loose the tip of your finger? I
would think a hungry ferret would want to take as big a chunk as he
could possibly get!

Case in point: I had a stray once you someone found running across
their patio and gave the little baby to me. They couldn't keep it as
1) they knew nothing about ferrets, 2) they had a new born baby, and
3) you couldn't get near him as he'd bite - HARD! So the first thing
I did was pick him up and cradled him in my hands in my lap (he was a
small fella, maybe a couple months old and it seemed he'd been outside
for a while cuz he was pretty thin). Well, he went to bite down on my
finger, but I didn't pull away and just stroked him and cooed to him.
He just let go.

He became very attached to me and always wanted to taste whatever I
was eating. One day, I put a small amount of mashed potatoes on my
finger, and him not knowing it was my finger under there, just took a
BIG chomp and tried to run off with it - just like he'd done all along
whenever I'd give him a treat. He never bothered to take it nice, just
GRAB and RUN! Maybe he learned this behavior because of being deprived
of food - I don't know as he could not tell me about his bad childhood
experiences. Needless to say, he continued to yank on my finger tip
until he drew blood. Then he let go like it was a hot potato (pun
intended), and ran and hid. He was shaking all over! So I think he must
have bit someone when he was little, and they just threw him out the
door. I comforted him as I knew he didn't mean to do it. After that, he
took food very gingerly from my hands. But I would also have to agree
w/Mr Ed that wild ferrets - much less ANY wild animal goes for some
periods of time without a full belly. They eat what they can catch and
what is available, but I don't like care for the idea of starving an
animal for days - and I have a right to my opinion as Mr Ed does to
his.

So, like humans, every ferret is different and will respond differently
depending on their past experiences, or just their own personal likes
and dislikes!

As for Mr Ed's post Thursday, it sounds like he has become a very jaded
ferret owner/rescuer/breeder/adopter and for his own sanity, maybe
moving on to greener pastures would be best - for his own sanity. I
too, have loved ferrets for almost 25 yrs now, but I have decided that
the kids I have now will be my last. They will all be taken care of and
loved no less than any before them (maybe more), and they will all have
a comfy home until they cross the Rainbow Bridge, but I have decided
that the responsibility of ferret ownership has become a bit too much
for me in my current living arrangements. But then, that will probably
be another 6 or 7 yrs before I will become ferretless, so who knows?
Maybe, just maybe, Mr Ed has just gotten burned out and needs a
reprieve to keep his sanity. Only he know for sure...

Dawn, Socrates, Romeo, Alexander and Simon

[Posted in FML 6215]