This is my first post to the list; I'm an English vet and a newbie ferret
owner.  I have had multiple pets for years (dogs, cats, rabbits, chickens,
rats, hamsters at various times), and have a slant towards "exotic" mammals
at work.
 
About 2 or 3 weeks ago, someone found a stray ferret wandering in a local
housing estate and brought him along to the surgery.  All the nurses (= vet
techs) immediately were impressed by his personality, and pointed him out
to me when I dropped in that weekend.  I'd vaguely been thinking I might
get a ferret sometime, though I hadn't planned to get one now, but I
thought he was lovely too, and so I persuaded my husband we needed him.  I
also know I'm better able to treat species I've personally kept and
therefore understand, and so I hope keeping him will help me to be a more
knowledgable vet.
 
We hung onto him the legal 7 days for an owner to claim him, and then I
castrated him.  Other than an exploratory nip at my toddler's hand, which
didn't leave a mark, there had been no biting, and he's been very calm and
confident about being handled.  I am so used to dealing with dogs and
cats that I expect to be able to predict their actions in most situations
without even thinking about it, but I find Baldrick is so different that I
don't yet understand at all how he's going to react in a given situation.
He does all the ferrety things described on the list - wardancing, digging,
etc.  He's currently living outside (because of the smell - remember he
was a fully adult entire hob until a week ago), and coming inside under
supervision.  He has seemed cheerful and curious about coming inside.
Because of years of getting bitten by hamsters, I have been careful not to
poke fingers at him and to make sure he knows I'm there before picking him
up.  I don't know if this is necessary - presumably he's clever enough to
know what a finger is?
 
Now to the point of this post.  On Saturday, my elderly mother came to
visit.  We were in the dining room, which is a room Baldrick doesn't know
well, and were sitting watching him as he explored.  She was sitting on a
chair, and he came up, sniffed at her leg, and then bit her ankle twice,
hard.  She was wearing tights (= pantyhose), which I never wear - I think
he's only seen me in trousers.  We prised him off her leg and stopped the
bleeding.  Fortunately, her leg seems OK.  Remember the UK is free of
rabies, so that isn't an issue with a stray ferret.  Since then, Baldrick
has continued to appear entirely pleasent.  My concern is that I have so
little experience of ferrets that I have no idea why this happened.  It
doesn't seem like aggression to me.  Curiosity?  Play?  Do many ferrets
bite hard now and then?  Would he have known it was a leg, or might the
texture of the tights have intrigued him?  Could/should we have avoided
this, is it likely to happen again?  I would be really grateful if anyone
experienced with ferrets could shed some light on what may have been going
through his mind at this time.  I have rehabilitated problem animals
before, and I wouldn't mind if I understood what had happened, but I don't!
 
Thanks for any help, and for your interesting posts,
 
Alison Skipper in England, and a long list of family and animals including
Baldrick!
[Posted in FML issue 2967]