Victoria commented that her vet expected Antigone to bite.  With my vet, it
was the opposite, I think.  She was always very comfortable handling Cocoa
and was amazed at how docile she was but never expected her to bite and
Cocoa never did.
 
When I was ferret-sitting this summer, the first thing I said to the vet
was that Gila *was* a biter.  However, I guess the vet knew better how to
approach a nervous ferret, because Gila didn't even nip once, at least not
while they were in the room with me.  What point was I trying to make?  :)
 
Oh yeah, my vet didn't assume that the ferrets would bite, although I am sure
she approached them cautiously.  But then, the university Vet Med department
had their own ferrets for a while for research of some sort.  They would
take the ferrets to the local exhibition and display them with the other
"exotics" such as birds and reptiles.  It was more of an awareness program
for these types of animals.  Their ferret wasn't used to little kids
much so they wouldn't let them hold him (or maybe because they were more
aware of "rabid" parents being concerned about biting), but one year a friend
of mine was in vet college, and her and I took both of our ferrets to the
fair.  As I said earlier, Cocoa was so docile that when I handed her to a
little child, she would wake up, sniff around a bit, then go back to
sleep!  :)  Best defense against all the stories about rabid, vicious
ferrets is a contented ferret.   :-)
 
Inez
 
 
[Posted in FML issue 0605]