Biting -
     There's an enormous difference between nipping, biting, and savaging.
Ferrets nip (rarely bite), cats bite and scratch, and dogs bite or savage.
     The other day my dog accidently bit me which resulted in a baseball
size bruise below my knee.  A couple years ago - he bruised my entire hand.
Sunny is a good dog, but very protective and both times I wasn't the
intended victim.  Because I'm aware of Sunnys nature (I've raised him since
he was 3 weeks old), I can intervene without fear of savaging.  Because of my
intervention, Sunny has not bitten anyone else.  Sunny is protector of
ferrets and he takes his job seriously.  Ferrets are welcome, unfamiliar
humans are not.
     Four years ago I was seriously bitten by a dog at an animal sanctuary.
I'd cautiously walked up to the animal (of which the propietor said was nice)
without provocation, he bit me on the side of my neck.  My experience had
taught me not to jerk away, and though the bite was serious, it wasn't deadly,
but very easily could have been had I not reacted appropriately.
     My sister is frequently bitten and scratched by her cat when they play.
Just looking at her scratched hands & arms makes mine hurt.  Sometimes the
feral kitties will hiss, snap, and strike at me when I feed them.  I've
been accidently bitten on my finger down to the bone by a pet cat.
     I'm housing 28 ferrets (down to 5 kits now) and play with them daily.
There's not one scratch or bite anywhere on my body (except for Sunnys bite)
and the ferrets are allowed total access to all rooms of our home.
As ferrets use their mouths in play and their teeth are so small, and therefore
sharp, it is quite common to accidently get nipped, not always breaking skin.
Perhaps we've all been nipped, but not bitten by our ferrets.  I've rehabil-
itated 15 "nippers" with no more than minor nips that rarely break the skin.
When a ferret nips, it may either let go or hang on.  If we jerk away,
we may cause a scratch.  However, when a dog or cat bites, they may
shake their heads to tear flesh and cause serious damage.
 
I'll take a ferret nip over a dog or cat bite any day!
 
Hmmm... seems like I have better luck with ferrets!
 
Hugs to all fuzzies!  tle
 
[Posted in FML issue 0902]