Gruesse aus Seattle Freunde!  [G.] Hello from Seattle friends!
 
Jederman spricht oder schreibt Deutsch? [G]  Anyone (out there) speak or
write German?  If so, let me know so we can practice with each other a
little bit in the field of Stinktier [G] Skunk Wissenschaft [G]
Knowledge.
 
My name is Edward Lipinski and I "operate" a ferret, mink, magpie (and some
time ago) a skunk (Stinktier) shelter, a breeding and ferret birth control
clinic, a boarding facility, and like to tell anybody who'll listen long
enough, all the mistakes I've made in operating with ferrets since the year
1981.  I call this "mistake telling" education.  Hopefully upon hearing my
Fehler [G] mistakes, my audience won't do the same.
 
I congradulate you, the host and all the donors of Stinktier Wissenschaft
[G] Skunk Knowledge to this information list.  You all are doing a highly
beneficial work on behalf of our little understood, integrated (black &
white) critters.  In this vein, I should like to pose a question about two
subjects that have been mentioned on this list:
 
1. What precisely is a "Chicago Screw?" This was mentioned as a means of
preventing the two loops of the figure-8 "cat" harness from tightening as
the skunk pulls in the forward or aft direction, or so I understood.
 
I use leather figure-8 "cat" harnesses for the ferrets when I stake them
out on a 3-foot leash on the digging grounds.  The harnesses are snugged up
fairly tight to prevent the ferret from "snaking" out of them either
forward or pulling aft, and the beauty of the figure-8 harness is that it
tightens whichever of the two loops the ferret is pulling against; i.e.,
the neck loop tightens when the ferret is pulling forward (the chest loop
may loosen a little bit) and the chest loop tightens when the ferret is
backing up.
 
With the one skunk we had here some years ago, the figure-8 harness seemed
useless in confining her to a given area in the digging grounds along with
the neighboring ferrets.  I think the main reason was that she was terribly
disproportionate, her large body with respect to her tiny neck.  Quite
unlike the more uniform bodied ferret.
 
As I recall she weighed in at about 12 to 15 pounds - very, very fat.  She
had little difficulty in backing out of the harness as long as her leash
line was tethered to a post so she had something to pull against.  She was
in her pre-hibernation (?) weight.
 
2. My second querry is about "worms." Can we have a reference to a
vet-medical journal or paper that describes "worms" in relationship to
Stinktiere [G] Skunks?/ferrets?  Or, is it possible for one of the more
erudite of you to thumbnail a description of this relationship in layman's
language so that we may all understand this difficulty?
 
I vaguely suspect this is of greater import in the warmer climes, such
as Florida, rather than it is in our nordic, cooler clime of rainy town
Seattle.
 
Our motto over here at club Ferrets NorthWest FNW on the left coast is
"Frettchenvergnuegen!" This is stolen from the old Volkswagen commercial
you may remember as, "Fahrvergnuegen," which can be taken to mean "Driver
Satisfaction." I simply removed the "Driver" part and substituted the the
German word for "ferret," which is (Das) "Frettchen." Hence I came up with
the expression, "Frettchen + vergnuegen = Frettchenvergnuegen."  Loose
translation: The Joy of Ferrets.
 
Guess what?  If I get involved with Stinktier again soon, maybe I can come
up with the expression.  "Stinktiervergnuegen."  A loose translation: The
Joy of Skunks.
 
Aller Anfang ist schwer. [G] Getting started is kinda hard. (especially
at 6 AM)
 
Edward Lipinski, Der Frettchenfanatiker und Stinktierstuetzender
Edward Lipinski  The Ferret Fanatic and Skunk Supporter
[Posted in FML issue 2511]