On Mar. 29, Greg Toope posted a warning about ferrets at the beach. I agree
that I wouldn't take my little sand worms to the beach at midday on a hot
summer afternoon. Too much heat and too bright.
 
But, I don't get the objections about salt water and sand.  Having grown up
in the Great Lakes, I can testify that the United States has a *lot* of
coastline bordering fresh water.  (The state with the largest coastline is
Michigan, and that's all fresh water..."fresh" being subjective depending on
whether you're downstream of a wastewater treatment outlet.  And Canada has
more fresh water than any other country in the world.) Unless an animal is
dehydrated, it won't do more than taste salt water anyway, and a responsible
fert owner brings fresh water along on any trip.
 
As for sand, I can't imagine ferrets evolving as burrowing animals without
being able to tolerate the ingestion of a little soil now and then.  It
doesn't make sense biologically.  As for me, I keep a box full of builders'
sand that I occasionally pour into a big pan to let my two ferrets play in.
They nose it around, they dig in it, they rub on it and try to get as much
*out* of the pan as possible.  I'd leave it for them all the time but it
gets too messy.
 
From an infectious disease standpoint (I do ID epidemiology), I'd suspect
there's greater risk romping through the backyard on a leash where they
could be exposed to a number of parasites, especially in the South.  (A good
hard freeze each winter can be a good thing when it comes to hookworm and
other nasties in the soil.) I'm sure other ferret owners treat their
fuzzbeans to supervised visits to the beach without ill effect.  Anyone want
to share their experiences?
 
--Jeff Johnston ([log in to unmask])
[Posted in FML issue 1524]