Hi all.  I've posted here anon. before, just in case, you know.
I don't know how many WI ferret owners there are here, but did anyone see
the article in the Capital Times, Feb. 21?  It's titled "ferrets can pose
danger to children" by Sandi Sawchuk.  Whoa boy.  (Bill, I'm going to
briefly summarize, is that o.k. re: copyright and all that discussion that
was going on a bit ago about newpaper articles posted here?)
 
[Moderator's note: Yes, it's OK... and I think your summary is wonderful -
thanks.  BIG]
 
It's a question from someone worrying about whether ferrets are o.k. w/
babies.  We all know that all small children should be supervised with all
pets, for safety's sake (the kid's and the animal's).  While this article
says such, it also says such things as ferrets can be "somewhat"
littertrained.  My ferret is more than somewhat littertrained, and I know
lots of people who have equally talented ferrets ;).
 
The article goes on to say "Since 1978 more than 400 ferret attacks on
humans have been reported with 63 of these being unprovoked attacks on
infants and children.  One child was fatally injured." The author states
that these figures are from the National Association of State Public Health
Veterinarians.
The author states that ferrets have climbed into cribs and inflicted
"hundreds of bite wounds" to infants.
 
This woman also says that she dealt with a ferret that attacked a litter of
8 Norwegian elkhound pups, and killed all but 3. THose 3 had "literally
hundreds of bite wounds over their bodies, with most of them occuring
around the head and neck."
 
At least she finished up by saying "I would be hard pressed to bring a
ferret into my home until my daughter is much older -- maybe 7 or 8 -- and
even then I would always be there to supervise the situation."
 
*sigh*.  Yes, ferrets are pets that need people with lots of tolerance, and
yes small children can't usually control their own excitability.  But the
article was SO negative towards ferrets.  I had people ask me "You have a
ferret, right?  How many times have you been bitten?" or "Aren't you afraid
of being attacked?"  In response to the latter question, I tell the person
how big Hodge is ("Yay long and yay big around - tiny animal.")
 
Anyway.  Now I'm done complaining.  Well, no, first I'm going to write the
newspaper....
 
----CA & DA (the humans), Eudora (semi-intelligent cat), Graham (mentally
retarded), and HodgePodge the wonder ferret.
[Posted in FML issue 1120]