Ed
You said the parents of this child were aware of the Ohio incident.  I hope
you informed them that there is currently no information made public that
clearly points to the ferret as the attacker, rather than a rodent.  Much of
the information that HAS been made public (ferret found in cage with no
blood on it or around the cage) points AWAY from the ferret.
 
As to the motive of the ferret biting the new mother's ankles, it sounds
very like reports on the fml from time to time about how a ferret gets
overly excited at the sound of a squeak toy.  FMLers speculate that the
ferret thinks it is a kit in distress or prey.  I tend to think the former,
since owners holding other prey (such as raisins) are rarely treated this
way.
 
A reminder to all that a picture of a child holding a ferret is no more
likely to lead to dangerous situations that a picture of a child with puppy,
kitten or bunny.
 
Linda Iroff
North Coast Ferret Shelter
http://www.oberlin.edu/~liroff/ncfs.html
[Posted in FML issue 2234]