I was gone for 4 days and came back reading about the vicious Swedish ferret
report.
 
I know several people who have long hair (Angora) and short haired ferts
from Quality Ferrets.
 
I have heard about how sweet they are and I have heard that they can be
nippers.  Seems to me, we have all heard the same thing about all of our
'domestic' domestic ferrets!  (Oh..I am from the US, hence the double
double!)
 
My own experiences with what I call Euro ferts...ie: Quality Ferrets is
this.  1 exposure, 4 ferrets, and all nasty biters.  No..not nippers...
machine gun teeth..I had over 30 punctures in 5 seconds flat!
 
Now..as Paul Harvey says, Here's the REST of the story!
 
All four had just come in on an airplane, were scared as hell and had
probably been subjected to a previous airplane flight from Scandanavia....
yeah..I think I would be a biter too.
 
After I was chewed up somewhat severely, I spent some time with the little
(sic) girl and within a few minutes, she had calmed right down and was quite
content to snuggle in my arms...I even convinced her to give me a kiss.
 
Unfortunately, finances were such that a new fert at the time was not
feasible.  I know for a fact that all four ferts, 1 Angora and 3 shorthairs,
are very sweet animals now.  The biting went away when love and caring
become the rule.
 
If I went with my first impression, the holes in my hands would have spelled
doom for the fuzzies.  Fortunately, the pet store owner and I are good
friends and no one needed to know how I became a bleeding mess that day.
 
So..with what little I know, I would hazard a guess that travel time is
the culprit in the vast majority of Euro fert biting incidents.
 
MC (Joe)
[Posted in FML issue 2052]