Regarding the hawks in the park eyeing the ferrets, I have a story - a true
story - along that line.  My first ferret, Odie, loved to go outside on warm
spring nights.  This became such a ritual with us that he would go to the
front door and stand up against it, staring first at the door knob and then
turning around to look at me.  I never could resist his request to go out
and inevitably put everything else aside to accommodate him, unless it was
raining or pitch dark outside.  But the nice, star or moon-lit nights would
find us out there, Odie happily sniffing and digging about the barn yard or
galloping down one of the paths through our fields.  Of course he was ALWAYS
on a leash.  He especially loved to dig holes in the shavings pile that we
kept in the barnyard for the horses' stalls.  One night we were on the top
of this mountain of shavings, Odie eagerly digging away.  I stood quietly,
watching him, probably deep in thought about some insignificant thing.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I noticed movement in the air above me
and a little to the left.  As I lifted my head and turned to focus on it, I
was startled to see a huge barn owl bearing down on us, directly toward Odie
and just a few feet away.  As I moved to look at it, the motion in turn
startled the owl, and it immediately swerved away.  Owls fly silently, and I
was completely unaware of it until it entered my field of vision.  I'm sure
that birds of prey would readily grab a ferret, but as long as there is a
human being "attached", the ferret is probably quite safe.
[Posted in FML issue 1689]