Shelters get the ferrets other people don't want and that means that we get
our share of sharks, razor blades, and just plain BAD little fitches and
fellows.  Naomi (as in "are you going to nai-o-me?") and Winona were so
determined to take out large chunks of flesh that we could only handle them
by throwing towels over them.  Daily handling, treats for being good, and
consistant "time outs" for being BAD, eventually won them over, (after about
6 months!) and they are being fostered by a remarkably patient young man.
 
Prince only bit women but he did it so forcefully that he always drew blood,
and in fact one day he got me under a thumb nail and would not let go.  My
sin, aside from being female?  Playtime was over and I was putting him back
in his cage.  He has never changed his mind about women but did find an
adoptive home with a guy and his longsuffering girl friend.
 
Modi ("brave little one") was rescued by her companion, Nana, who found a
woman to save them both from a brush pile where they had been dumped.  Modi
was in heat and had been mangled, probably by a pack rat.  Cyrus, our
vasectomized male took her out of heat, then she got slimey, went into heat
again, Cyrus took her out again, and we had her spayed.  By that time she
was furious at fate, would lunge at us, strike at other ferrets, dump them
out of hammocks and push them away from the food bowl.  Our dear vet
suggested patience and Prosac.  We tried patience first and she has come
'round, again with much love, attention, and handling, and the fading of
hormones.  We haven't tried the Prosac but if anyone out there has we would
like to hear from you.  So, if someone is making a list of how to deal with
the worst of them please include: Handling, Tossing towels, Treats, Time
out, Consistancy, Patience, Prosac, and consideration of such things as
gender preference.
[Posted in FML issue 2075]