Gotta lotta comments on the aging thing, most rather old (he he).  One
comment (sent by three people) asked me to elaborate a bit on the ferret to
human age ratio, and after looking back on what I said, I thought I should
make a clarification.
 
There is no accurate way to say one year of a ferret's life is equal to X
number of years in a human life.  You really can't say it about dogs or any
other animal either, for that matter, because the proportion of time spent
in each *phase* of a species life is relative to the species.  A simplified
list of life-phases could be 1) Prenatal; 2) Neonatal; 3) Infancy; 4)
Juvenile; 5) Adult; 6) Mid-Life Adult; 7) Elderly.  I might add or subtract
from this list depending on the species or circumstances, but will go with it
for now.
 
Each phase has a specific duration for each species, and because the
proportions of time spent within each phase are different between species,
interspecies comparisons are filled with error.  For example, in the USA,
ferrets live about 7 years, but can live as long as 12 (or more).  Humans
average out to a 75+ year life span, but some can live as long as 100 (or
more).  It would be easy to say 1 year of a ferret's life roughtly equalled
10 years of a human life, and I know, because I basically said it.  But it
is not really true, and here's why.
 
At the end of the first year of a ferret's life, it is essentially sexual
mature, able to live on its own without parental help, and its skeleton had
stopped growing and has started to fuse.  A comparable age in most humans is
17-18 years old.  So the first year of a ferret's life, they age 18 times
faster than a human being, all other factors being equal.  Breeding age in a
female ferret probably ends at about 6 years; in humans, the age is roughtly
50 years (I know, I know, its admittedly rough, and ferrets don't actually
*have* the equivelent of a human menopause) So a far assessment is would be
the ferret ages about 7 times faster during the reproductive years.  A
ferret might live a couple of more years, but a human female will live
another 25-30 years, so now you have a ferret to human ratio of 1 year
corresponding 10-15 years.
 
Complicating the picture is a of precise data of age at death of ferrets.  I
am unaware of a scientifically verifiable average year of death for ferrets,
other than reasonable guesses.  Honestly, it seems to range from 6 to 10
years, depending on who tells you.  My guess is that the average age of
death for ferrets in the USA is probably about 8 years, give or take a year.
I used that estimate, rounded up the human average age at death (76-78
years) to 80, and just rounded the whole thing to a 1:10 ratio.
 
That ration is probably fairly accurate for the overall lifespan, but as
I've explained, it is quite innaccurate for the first year of life.
 
Bob C and the 20 Mo Ferts from Hell
[Posted in FML issue 2102]