Right after I first got Starbuck, I had cable put in.  The cable guys were
really nice and one of them pointed to Starbuck's cage and said "Does she
bite?" Before I could answer, the other one said "If it has teeth, it
bites." If you attempt to hurt or attack any animal, it will bite.  I used
to have a German Shepherd that was the sweetest dog in the world.  She bit a
3-year-old child once because the child hurt her the way young kids
do-without meaning to, and extremely painfully.  Fortunately the parents
were "dog people" and understood it wasn't her fault.  But the point is, any
animal bites when it feels threatened.
 
On a slightly related note, the reason to have an indoor ferret vaccinated
against rabies (I was wondering this too; my vet explained it to me) is that
if your ferret bites someone, if it hasn't been vaccinated it will be
killed.  This happened in the pet store where I got Starbuck; a woman picked
up a sleeping baby by THE TAIL and then when the ferret bit her she called
animal control and forced them to put the ferret down.
 
            -Kate & Starbuck, the energizer ferret
[Posted in FML issue 2188]