Hi, Mark,
 
Those things are a blast, aren't they?  My ferrets (and cats) go buggo over
them, too.  It's really fun when you suddenly block the beam with your hand.
The cats look *everywhere* for where that little red animal disappeared to!
This doesn't impress the ferrets, though.  They just go in search of other
prey.  I've always thought that there should be a colloquial expression
based on this.  Something like "He had the attention span of a ferret" or
"The speeding car went by faster than the attention span of a ferret." ;^)
 
Might be wise to point out to anyone who wants to try this the damage these
things laser pointers can probably do to a critter's eye if it shines
directly in, even briefly.  They're only about 5 mW usually, but they can
damage human eyes (with difficulty), and I bet your eye is *nowhere* near as
efficient at collecting light as a cat's eye.  I don't know how ferret eyes
compare, but if they're naturally nocturnal, I would think they would have
similarly light-collecting lenses in their eyes.
 
Have fun with them, but I'd be very, very careful about shining them in the
fuzzbutt's eyes, even briefly!
 
    Cheers,
        Eric
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[Posted in FML issue 1564]