Thanks for your thank you, John.  LOL!  I am glad I could help with
that info and the URLs.  Mike's and Debbie's articles at Miamiferret
on the topic are just plain excellent!  Always highly recommended!
 
Sybil, has the ferret been exposed to more hours of light in the last
month or so?  That will do that.  It sounds like the guard hairs have
blown and a new undercoat is coming in. To give a feeling for when to
jump see the articles mentioned before like
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/adrenal.htm
and also see ones like
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/basics.htm
 
I had someone ask me if it is good idea for me to reveal as much of
myself as I do on the FML.  I don't know; it's just habit.  In the
earlier years it was a small enough community that we all knew all sorts
of things about each other and aided each other on a personal level as
well as in relation to ferrets so knowing that problems have solutions
was just part of what we shared.  When they didn't we provided shoulders.
There was spell back then when a young member's adult sister was in a
horrid car accident where she was wearing only a lap belt but no shoulder
belt and was in the back seat.  For quite some time there were digests
which were devoted to a large extent to helping her get through it.  That
can't happen these days; the FML is too large.  But if personal notes
remind people that a lot of hard things in life can be gotten through or
just become a lived-with part of life then that is kindness that can help
some people.  To a large extent we all learn to live life by learning how
others get through things.  Bob recently taught FML people to take proper
care in relation to not overdoing sun exposure and getting skin checked,
and i recently reminded people to get their eyes checked and that
treatments that are comfortable and easy exist for glaucoma.  If his
words or mine help just one person (and I do know that someone went and
got an eye exam finally, and suspect he also heard from people who helped
themselves, too) then they perform a public service, and that is what it
is all about at times.
 
Anyway, point taken, and it was a good one once I thought more about it.
The FML is larger and has changed, and I guess even old farts like me
with our ingrained old fart habits need to change along with it.  It's
not small with an extremely constant membership any longer, is it?  Good
in some ways, sad in others.  So, now I get to try to remind myself...
 
I guess there also will be those wondering what happened when I lost my
temper, so I might as well forestall any inaccurate speculation (another
off-list tip I got -- and thanks for it because I tend to usually assume
the best of people -- in ferret forums at least -- but that doesn't
always happen).  Well, what I did was shaped specifically to the person
who caused the response.  To some others it may seem like nothing at all,
but for him it certainly was a very big deal.  I had someone write an
article (full of false statements about states and rabies policies) and
put MY name on it as if I had written it.  He really snubbed his nose at
me and refused to remove it, taunted me even, and when I threatened to
sue he said they had no money anyway so he didn't care.  I had to warn
people on the FML that the article was a fake and then I heard from a
number of people he had done the exact same thing to -- some being badly
hurt by it.  I looked into him further and hit on the idea of a suit in
which he would have to do public service in my state, not his, and live
at his own expense as suggested punishment -- no money to us.  That
concept actually bothered him badly enough to get "my" article removed.
Then I went the extra step and told every single person I had heard from
whom he had hurt exactly what worked, and told them to feel free to tell
anyone else they knew whom he had hurt that way.  You never saw a website
and behavior change so fast in your life.  Did anyone actually have to or
choose to press suit?  I don't know.  I do know that his website remained
for a year or so then went away and stayed away, so maybe someone did, or
maybe not.  Do I care, or do I feel bad for him?  Nope.  He deserved
exactly what he got and it was all legal and never posed any risk to any
innocent beings whether two footed or four footed.  Personally, I think
it was the perfect solution even though it took some work to come up with
it because it bothered him deeply enough to permanently stop the behavior
that was hurting people, and it achieved its goal with no one else hurt
and with a lot of good people helped.  Did I care if his website remained
or not?  No, as long as he didn't abuse people.  Is he someone I will
ever trust?  Nope.  Will I say who he is?  Nope.  He learned his lesson
so that is that; most people do in life at some point or other if those
individuals do too many nasty things to people.
 
Last night and today some private conversations cleared up some confusion
and incorrect accusations that had been made.  That feels good and right.
Too bad they were not just asked privately in the first place, but it is
good that they appear to be settled now, at least I sure hope that they
are.
 
-- Sukie (not a vet)
Ferret Health List co-moderator
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives fan
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
replacing
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
International Ferret Congress advisor
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5166]