To: Gail Reilly.
 
 
You wrote "We went out again today, but had to come in when the
neighbor's cats came out.  No need to take chances."
 
If you have a juvenile ferret, that might be true.  But a wound up
adult ferret (like they probably are if they're outdoors exploring) is
more than a match for even a large cat, should said cat be unwise
enough to attack the ferret.
 
[Especially a big male ferret. Ed.]
 
I've been around dozens of ferrets that met dozens of cats, some of
which were fairly large, aggressive hunters.  Once the cats get a whiff
of the ferret, their reaction seems to be something like "Hey, this
weird little rat-thing is at least as high on the food chain as I am.
I think I'll back up carefully now."  (This doesn't apply to cats that
were raised from kittenhood with ferret-pals, of course).  I hear that
cats that attack ferrets don't do it twice, but I've never even seen a
cat attack in the first place, even after stalking the ferret.
 
Dogs, on the other hand, could be a different matter.  A large dog's
jaws could kill a ferret in one bite.  The ferrets that I have
carefully introduced to large dogs have generally gained the upper hand
quickly (by, for example, latching onto the dog's eyebrow hard enough
to hang on, but not hard enough to puncture), but I wouldn't risk it
with an aggressive dog.
 
[We had a mastiff attack the kennel cab with our ferrets in it at the
vets.  What a mess.  Ed.]
 
Grendel, Gilbert, Miss Lilly, and Boomer, the scarecats.
(and their humans)
 
[Posted in FML issue 0726]