Hi;
 
Forgive me for stating the obvious but I feel compelled to give this little
reminder in hopes of sparing other ferrets some grief.  Ferrets & small
children can be a bad combination.  My 3 year old cousin visited over the
Thanksgiving holiday and, of course, fell in love with my ferret and wanted
to play with her.  I thought it would be safe to have her sit with Ratty
while I supervised.  I was wrong.  She obviously did not know how to handle
a small pet and, though I am sure she meant no harm, grabbed my ferret
around the neck and stomach and squeezed her rather hard; it took two
adults to pry Ratty away from her.  (This was after her 6 month old sister
yanked on Ratty's fur and tried to shove her in her mouth.) When I said "no
more" and rescued her, the 3 year old started throwing a tantrum and
banging on her cage.
 
To my ferret's credit, she did not try to bite either child.  However, I
know she (Ratty) was considerably stressed by this experience and I have
definitely learned my lesson.  I just thought I'd share this since we are
approaching another big family holiday time and those of us without small
kids sometimes forget just how rough little hands can be to our fuzzy
friends.
 
Ann
[Posted in FML issue 2510]