> Oh- anyone have any good names for her that  mean  "reborn"? I've been
> wanting  to change her name anyway, and now that she's back with me,  it
> seems like a good time. :)
 
The Phoenix or Firebird legend comes to mind.
 
> From:    SELENA SIMONETTI <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Ferrets and Ferreting
>
> I have read in social history books that women and men in the middle ages
> used ferrets for hunting rabbits and kept them as pets in mean time.
> This PROVES that our little friends are not wild creatures. I can prove
> that in 1100's AD this was a popular form of hunting, and often this
> was a ladies pet like a lap dog.  I have seen paintings where women have
> "dolled" up their ferrets with jewelled collars and leashes.
 
There is at least one famous painting from the renaissance mistakenly called
woman with ermine - it is obviously an Albino hob.
 
Ferrets and people go back together at least 500 years more than cats.
Several of the old folktales were originally about ferrets.  The word used
meant 'mouser' (catching mice is why people kept ferrets) which meant the
weasel thing that caught mice (now called ferrets) but has been usually
mistranslated into 'cat'.  If I come across a good example I post it -
I'll be reading up on folktales and such for my new baby (human - we'll
have kits later in the summer).
 
> From:    Heather Jane Bilicki <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Barn Type Cage
>
> Hello all, I am presently on a quest for the pefect ferret cage.  After
> watching the "Ferrets Unmasked" video, I think I have made my choice- A
> three story barn cage.  Now for my problem- where to obtain it.
 
You're looking for Pete Koch - someone around is sure to have his address
- maybe he's in the *STAR* list.  I recently got a LARGE three story cage
from Ferret Paws, it doesn't have the rounded top that Koch's do though.
And Bill, sorry to plug them again so soon.
[Moderator's note:  I got a cage from them myself a few years back, though
they were resellers in this case - they didn't design that cage themselves.
I agree they have good stuff, but excessive plugs will be edited out - though
certainly no need so far.  BIG]
 
> From:    ERIKA MATULICH <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Deaf ferrets
>
> When I bought Bobbin I thought she was going to be a silver (at 6 weeks she
> had white fur with a some black guard hairs).  Over the years, her black
> guard hair gradually disappeared until she looked like a black-eyed white.
 
Most dark eyed whites start with some black guard hairs - I've got three
now who were 'Silver Mitts' earlier.
 
> Anyway, despite the minor shortcomings above, being deaf certainly does not
> seem to bother the FERRET at all.  I think humans attribute more problems to
> the condition than necessary.  I love all my little ones just the same!
 
Since the ferret CAN NOT know it is supposed to hear it will never miss
its hearing.  I've several deaf ferrets and I'm not concerned about their
'flaw'.  I always warn anybody before I'll sell them a kit that appears
deaf though.
 
> From:    Lorna Mcleod <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Ferret's Down Under
>
> Thanks to everyone who sent us email about obtaining ferrets in Australia
> - We got a cute little boy and girl last Sunday.  I don't know what the
> colour is called (Anyone know?) They are a fawny colour with a dark brown
> mask, and feet and brown eyes...
 
Not sure but it sounds like a chocolate point or Sable point - depends on
whether the dark color is the color of a milk chocolate bar (chocolate)
or dark chocolate to black coffee (Sable).
 
> Being protective new parent's we'd like to know if anyone else's
>ferrets chew ears (not ours-each others).  Our female ("Zeke") constantly
>chews her brothers ears when he's trying to sleep - she'd chew them right
>off if we didn't stop her!  They are only eight weeks old so maybe this
>is a baby trait?
 
Yes youthful ferrets chew each others ears all the time.  Usuallu it
isn't a problem.  As they get older though it can damage their ears -
I've some ferrets that could win shows except for sibling damaged ears.
 
> From:    Anonymous Poster <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Ferrets, plains, & planes
>
> On the temperature susceptibility thing:
> Am I way off here?  If ferrets and their mustelid cousins can't take 80
> degrees F in the shade how can there be mustelidae anywhere but the polar
> caps?  Those Black Footed types thrived from South Dakota to Arizona until we
> wiped 'em out.  The Arizona sun and the Midwest mugginess couldn't kill 'em.
 
You're way off fortunately.  The Black-Footed ferret is a different
species.  Imagine the difference between the hot loving African Hyenas
and the similar cold loving Canadian wolves.  Both are canines like both
ferrets are mustelids.
 
Most people in the US south keep their ferrets inside air conditioned
houses.  I've usually heard more like 85 degrees also as the problem
point.  My ferrets stay inside year round but I do know at least one
breeder whose business (collective noun for ferrets) is kept outside in
shed type buildings.  He has never lost one to the cold but they suffer
in the summer sometimes.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 1143]