While I was doing something completely separate from ferret things I
thought of two tricks which might help with some of the abused ferrets
recently mentioned.  I think the first was originally from Julianna many
years ago: if a ferret has been kicked put its cage up high so that it
looks at faces rather than feet.  The second was taught by Susie Sherman
during the FML's 10th anniversary: when one has been hit or thumped and
become hand shy pick it up with a cloth at first (I think she used chamois
because it's soft but strong -- similar to our skin -- and has no loops to
catch teeth.).  The cloth tended to make the badly abused little girls she
was training at that point feel secure because the hands (pain inducers)
were "right there"; once the little one realized she was finally around
people who could be trusted she graduated to hands.  Something we have done
when rehabbing: we've let the ferret beat up things which are reminiscent
of that individual's pain or of the people who inflicted the pain: like
shoes or an oil cloth slicker.  Mostly, of course, it's just a matter of
gentle consistency to let the animal realize that trust is once again
possible.
 
Fortunately, most ferrets are smart enough, and have patient and forgiving
enough personalities to shape themselves to the needs of humans who haven't
yet learned enough to meet them at least half way on the behavior thing.
One thing I've noticed is that punishment is used more by those new to
ferrets, and that those who stick to ferrets tend to stop using punishment
after a while -- AND wind up with more gentle ferrets than those who stick
to physical punishment.  Instead people seem go to things like time outs to
calm down, distractions, and gentle encouragement to do something else
since ferret often go out of their way to please, or to other gentle
training methods.
[Posted in FML issue 2649]