Let me apologize in advance for the length here: I think this
story is rather important, though, both for  sharing the lessons I learned
and to raise awareness of what happens after a ferret bite.
        Yesterday, my wife and I had some teenagers over for lunch.  We
let the ferrets out of the cage, since neither of them (call them Thing 1
and Thing 2) had ever evidenced any hostile or nervous behaviour.
Needless to say, they were the life of the party.  They were getting on
well enough with the kids to where I felt comfortable leaving the room to
see to a few things.
        While I was gone, the kids found the ferrets' favorite toy,
twelve feet of dryer hose.  Thing 1 was inside, so the kids "trapped" her
by covering the entrance and exit and tapping along the tube.  Poor Thing
1 was distressed, but the kids, not knowing the signs of ferret
stress, thought it was just fun and continued the "game."  Then Thing 1 got
out and latched on to the nearest kid's ankle, then hand.  There was some
blood. (I hope I don't need to say that, had I known what the kids were
doing, _I_ would have bitten them!)  I know: it was STUPID of me to let
the ferrets into that situation.  But please do not flame me: I have
learned my lesson, better than any flames will ever be able to teach me.
More importantly, Thing 1 is the joy of my life, and I would NEVER
knowingly put her in harms way.  But on with the story.
        Now, Thing 1 has never, ever broken anyone's skin before, and
seldom bites with any force.  This behaviour was completely unexpected.
I disinfected the wound (after caging the frightened weasel), bandaged
it, and let the kids outside to play.
        Later I talked with the "patient's" mother, and explained that if
the bite was reported, the doctor would probably report it to the
Department of Health: it would get to Dr. John Freeman, epidemiologist
for North Carolina and one of the country's chief ferret opponents.  Dr.
Freeman has a perfect record, to my knowledge, of killing biting ferrets,
regardless of mitigating circumstances.   Thing 1 and Thing 2 have NEVER
been in unsupervised contact with other animals, let alone been bitten by
one.  But Dr. Freeman is notorious for getting his pound of flesh.
        The mother's concern, however, was (understandably) for the
child.  All day yesterday and most of today I have been waiting on pins
and needles to hear from her: she did take the girl to the doctor, even
though I gave her a crash course on ferret-rabies-facts.  I
thought it presumptuous to ask her to forego physician's advice,
and recited for her the statistics, Thing 1's history, etc. Thankfully, the
doc looked at the bite, asked a couple of questions (credit to the mom here:
she put a good spin on it) about the ferrets' exposure to other animals,
and let it go with a tetanus shot.  Had we gotten a more uptight doctor,
it's likely Thing 1 would have been condemned by the State.
        Please be careful, folks: if you're at all attached to your
ferret, don't presume upon his/her good behaviour.  You just can't
measure all the variables.  I'm not saying "cage them for life and never
let them out again."  But be aware, that once the state juggernaut has
earmarked your ferret, there's not a hell of a lot you can do.  I'm
writing this, more or less, having just heard the good news that my baby
is safe.: I'm still shaking, thinking about what might have been.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0928]