Hi,
 
I remember one time I took my ferrets to the Farmer's Market (Madison,
WI) and I heard a wide range of comments, mostly good, some "they smell"
and one guy really pissed me off.  He was with a group of other guys
(friends) and said something like "I had a ferret once and it was really
mean and it bit," (it was more direct and nasty than that, it was a
couple of years ago), and I turned to him and said something like,
"Ferrets only bite when they are abused and mistreated." He shut up after
that, and his friends all went "Oooh", like he has just gotten told where
to go by a *girl*.  Anyways, most of my encounters have been good, I use
the time to educate people.
 
There will always be idiots in the world, regardless of where you are.
We just have to stay one step ahead of them.
 
Most of the problems I see with new ferret owners are people walk into a
pet stores, say "Oh, aren't they cute." Then they buy one and take it
home, give it free run of the house like a cat or dog, give it one litter
box, then find that it goes to the bathroom everywhere, and now they need
to get rid of it.
 
This bugs me, I *always* do research before I get ANY new pet.  I see a
lot of ferret neglect purely due to ignorance, NOT malintentions.  So, I
spend a lot of my time telling people this in hopes that if they decide to
get a ferret, they will read a few books first, and of course I give them
my ferret card so they can call me with any questions they might have.
 
Ferret Fuzzies to all,
 
Chris & Scooter, Nina (Beaners), Tavi Bear, and Bailey Nutmeg.
[Posted in FML issue 1196]