FERRET-SEARCH@LISTSERV.FERRETMAILINGLIST.ORG
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Date: | Fri, 19 Jul 1996 11:11:59 -0700 |
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>From: dma <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Are ferrets dangerous to babies?
The poop part is a bad joke. The biggest problem I've heard of is where a
toddler gets a hold of a ferret and treats it as a stuffed animal, picking
it up by a leg, head or whatever and shaking it. If the ferret thinks it's
a real assault, which is quite possible, he'll "fight back"...and the kid'll
need stitches, maybe a lot of 'em.
There was supposedly a death on Oregon about 10 years back, not long after
the National Enquirer published an article titled "The Jet-Set Pet That Eats
Kids". In that case of a supposed "ferret killed kid", there was also a lot
of "Blunt Trauma"...I talked to William Phillips about that case; he
suspects the parents did the kid in and framed the ferret to avoid jail, and
that they got the idea from the Enquirer.
Bottom line is, there *may* be a problem with very young babies, there is a
strong possibility of trouble with toddlers...as with any other animal,
young kids and ferrets need to be supervised closely whenever they're
together.
In my opinion, if you suspect a kid is old/mature enough to deal with a
ferret without fear of mishap, borrow someone's tame friendly *rat* and see
how the kid holds and handles it. See, a rat will panic quickly if it's
uncomfortable, yet will be more inclined to "flee rather than fight", so
it's a safe way of seeing how well the kid deals with small animals. I
remember the time a five-year-old picked up Felix at a park, and I was
nervous until I saw how well the kid was doing - turned out he had a rat at
home.
[Posted in FML issue 1636]
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