To: Alayne
  First of all, I think you asked about the statis of  ferrets in Michigan.
They are still illegal. The bill has passed through the House, and now it's
gone to the Senate. They should vote on the bill sometime this fall.
 As far as your possibly bad ferret goes...  I have gotten two ferrets who,
when I first got them, were very nasty and would almost go after me to try to
bite me. They had both been abuse cases. It took one over a year to be a "nice"
ferret, and even now she still nips occasionally. The other one is coming along
slowly, but I can see some definite improvement. When I first got her I had to
use leather gloves to pick her up. I would suggest trying to handle the ferret
a lot using leather gloves. That way you don't get bitten and the ferret gets
used to being handled. Also, talk to him a lot when you pick him up. You might
try giving raisins (with gloves on) and playing with him to let him know that
you are "ok". That's what I had to do with the second nasty one I got. Keep him
away from your face though. Don't get to close when talking to him (I got a
bite in the nose learning this lesson the hard way). I once saw a ferret, which
I think may have been a fitch, who would really go after you if it saw a body
part it thought it could latch onto. It was about 2 months old and would draw
blood big time! One day it disappeared. ??  I think Charlie needs a lot of
love and some time. Hope everything works out.       -Anon
 
[Posted in FML issue 0937]