There has been alot of talk recently of whether or not parents of small kids
should own ferrets, or should be able to adopt them from shelters.  Some say
that shelters should treat each situation on a case by case basis, to go
with their gut instinct.  I would have to say I wholeheartedly agree with
that.
 
I am the proud mother of 3 children and one ferret.  At least one of the
kids are here most of the time.  But since we have two Gramma's who live
less than five blocks away, often two or more at playing at Gramma's house.
My children range in the ages of 2-5.  They are well behaved kids, but they
are normal, so they do get hyper and overexcited about some things.  My
ferret is well behaved, but hyper too.  Biting has never been a problem.  My
only worrys are that someone (including the adults) may step on him.
 
Gypsy has (usually) 3 play times a day.  Two hours of just him and me in the
morings before he kids get up.  An hour, at least, of closely supervised
play time with the kids in the afternoon or evening, and another two hours
of just him and me when the kids are either napping or have gone to bed for
the night.  Now, some might say that Gypsy is deprrived since he cannot have
the run of the house all of the time because of the kids.  But I will tell
you, he doesn't act deprived, and he certainly doesn't look it.  He is well
cared for and loved by his humans.  What I am trying to say is this, having
a ferret and small kids is no different than having a newborn or small
infant around pre-schoolers.  Everything has to be supervised, that is all.
And I always look for oportunities when he can get out when it is just me
and him.  I understand that there are parents who are not as carefull as I
am.  I would not recomend ferrets for every family with kids.  And it is not
just small kids who can be dangerous to ferrets, as I have a friend who has
a ferret and two teen boys who are less that gentle or kind to the ferret
(which I am trying to rectify that situation)
 
So I guess that is my two cents.  Parents of kids can be good parents to
ferrets too.  It just requires a little more time and common sense.
 
Michelle Phillips
[Posted in FML issue 2152]