Pam Grant, I have sent the article on to Mary at Modern Ferret, but if she
wants to send it back to us via you that is completely okay with us. In
the meantime, I looked for details on the two earlier cases of ferrets
saving people from fires which I had heard of. One I could not find. The
other was in UFO's Vol. 1, Issue 1. On January 18, 1988 in Watertown, N.Y.
Siffles (male) saved Kelly J. Chawgo from a rapidly spreading early morning
fire. Chawgo's husband, Gary, had left about a half hour before for work,
and the young woman slept through enough of the smoke that she was groggy
from inhaling it. Her ferret had to repeatedly jump against her face to
wake her (as opposed to fleeing on his own). Fortunately, she had enough
sense left in her that she picked him up before fleeing over floors that
were already buckling. They were all that survived the blaze.
It is my fond hope that Mary will request and get permission to reprint the
article from IL, and may put in a bit about other rescues by ferrets to
take it past token.
In the Naperville case which a friend mailed to us (Sorry, Gary, we are
not there.) there were 4 or 5 (I think the latter.) people saved, and in
this 1988 case one was saved. If the third case involved just 2 people
then humans saved from fire by ferrets would be double the number ever
historically, world-wide, said to have been killed by them. Not bad.
About giving pills in any matrix, or dissolved: See first what the meds
can not cope with. When Hjalmar had adrenal problems his was not a
straight forward case at first so we were all lucky that he did so very
well on lysodren since many do not. When he could not cope with pills we
learned that water was not considered a way to give it since some reactions
could be triggered prematurely so we gave it in Nutrical. Either your vet
or the manufacturer will be able to say what type of matrix should not be
used.
Ron, you must have been back in the Bitnet, Arpanet, Theorynet, etc. days
like Steve. There is no firm start of the Internet, but the first use of
that label was about 1981 (Berkley).
Debi, I am sorry to be blunt here, but I must be for your sake and the sake
of those ferrets. Find out which humane groups in your state (For N.J. it
is the Associated Humane Societies.) will take an abuser to court. This
can often result in the individual being banned from owning animals for a
number of years while legally removing the current animals to safety and to
any rehab or medical care they need.
Next, get yourself away from this guy. Yes, beating can be somewhat
situational for some people, but take it from me that such people are so
weak that they will hurt someone again when times get tough, as they
inevitably will at various points in life. Others just abuse any old time.
Give all batterers a very wide berth. You do not need to learn first hand
what it like to be a torture victim. Even worse, you do not want to ever
place a child in a situation where the same people it is always told by
society to rely on, to trust, to emulate, to praise are the people who beat
it and who hide the abuse. Both are serious forms of torture. Save
yourself and your children, and prevent yourself from becoming the abusive
half which tells a child not to air dad dirty laundry in public. You can
NOT change him. If he is ever going to have the strength to not batter he
will have to drag it out from deep inside himself; no one can give it to
him, not you, and not his kids, or his folks, nor anyone. It does not stop
at bruises in any fashion.
Chris, Be careful. Do the angora ferrets have long, lush fur for a reason
which is not condusive to their health? Our Ruffle has at least some of
her multiple medical problems because a breeder wanted to develop a
long-haired and short faced ferret. Well, such are seen in individuals
suffering (It is PAINFUL.) from achondroplasic dwarfism. Poor Ruffie has
very real problems.
It is always hard to add anything to a comment from Pam; she is very
practical and organized. She did; however, note that she prefers domestic
animals. As a result I will tell you (as someone who has worked with a
number of wild animals) that her comments on regulations and safety were on
the mark. Although they are related to our guys, anyone who expects a wild
relative to be as safe as they are, or who assumes that a wild animal will
be just calm and gentle as can be if a person is just loving enough is a
person who will soon be ripped up. These are not animals which have been
bred for many generations to adjust to human lifestyles and behavior
patterns. Our ferrets have that advantage. The polecats will behave as
they are geared to behave, with their own ways of establishing who is boss
and what the rules are. A person has to have the knowledge and ability to
read them, the willingness to be torn up when an error is made, and the
legal factors taken care of. That said, if we were in a home situation
where we could care for surplus polecats I would be sorely tempted to do
so, but then I am already full of scars. (BTW, Re: recent back-breds --
these can often be even LESS predictable,less logical in their actions and
reactions than their wild ancestors. Sometimes (like in terrier-coyote
crosses) they are almost totally off the wall.)
I talk too much. -- Sukie (Steve as hubby, Meltdown, Ruffle,
'Chopper, Spot,
Meeteetse, and Warp)
[Posted in FML issue 1404]
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