Gentle readers....
 
It really distressed me to see such negative things said about Bob C.
by some of the readers here.  As Roger and BIG said, Bob is very well
capable of defending himself.  But...Why should he have to 'defend'
himself in the first place?  He said nothing that needs defending.
Debate the man if you like...he loves to debate, and loves to see all
sides and opinions of an issue.  But...don't slam him....It only shows
the smallness of your minds.
 
The ferret community is blessed to have men and women with the talents of
Bob Church, and Dr. Weiss, and Pam Schilling, etc.  I doubt that there
isn't one person who has been in the international ferret community for
over a year that hasn't benefited in some way from the input of all these
wonderful people.  Not a one of them expects to have 100% agreeance in
what they say, or practice or write, but that information will stimulate
our minds and new and better ideas will emerge from the discussions and
the bull sessions at the events they attend and the articles and books
they write.
 
Bob Church is a very warm, kind, and intelligent man.  The only thing
'rude' about him, are his Hawaiian shirts.  <<GRIN>>
 
 ***************
 
And.........JASON!  Good to see you back on-line!  Congrats on the
nuptials!  Email me with your ICQ number so we can chat!
 
 ***************
 
RE: Wood stove pellets vs. Feline Pine.
 
They all come from the same place...on one batch run, they are packaged
into bags with a specific brand, ie: Stove Chow, Fire Box, Blazer, etc.
The next run, they go into packaging that says, Feline Pine, Ace Animal
Litter, etc.
 
The characteristic of stove (Compressed sawdust) pellets to break back
down into sawdust when wet is a physics issue.  If there are no additives
or glues added to the sawdust pulp in the extrusion process, it WILL
break down upon contact with moisture.  And it does it very quickly.
The very nature of wood is that it absorbs moisture.  When it does, it
swells, and it is the swelling that breaks up the compression of sawdust
by the extrusion process.
 
I have been using wood pellets for litter for over 5 years now.  The
break down is very very fast..I have never seen it otherwise.  However,
for this response to you, I turned to my oldest son who is, oddly enough,
in the extrusion industry.  (Plant manager in Tennessee)  He in turn,
networked with his contacts and got this information for me.  Just
thought everyone would like to know.
 
****************
 
For our ferrets!
 
MC, The Rude One
(With Snorkle, Tuzigoot, Bancho, and Artemus.  In spirit, Bubba,
Billy-Bob, and Garret)
[Posted in FML issue 3948]