>From:    Melissa Litwicki <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Hee hee! Friday nose-kissing
>So, i wrote asking if i should be ashamed to have taught Friday to lick my
>nose for treats (in an attempt to get her to be more affectionate).  Was i
>'prostituting' her in a way?  We have an answer...
 
So will those of us going to Lansing be seeing this cool ferret Friday (on
Saturday)?
 
>From:    "William L. Beckerson" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Two blue dots????
 
Two blue dots is usually the sign of a ferret from Marshall Farms of New
York; it is their way of indicating that the ferret has been altered and
descented.  There is no need to panic though when you see dire warnings of
disease and all.  Marshall breeds wonderful ferrets with some of the best
dispositions.  There is much discussion of whether there are medical
problems that go with Marshall ferrets, but I'm not yet convinced that these
problems are directly related to the fact they are Marshall ferrets.
 
>From:    Tanya M Vestal <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Just to say "Hi"...
>I don't appreciate fur in my pots and pans?  Any suggestions on how to
>keep him out?
 
If ferrets have free run of the kitchen, that you have to do the same thing
you would do for two legged children - child locks for the cabinets.
Available at most stores that cater to human baby supplies.
 
>From:    Sherri Murphy <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Copyright question & research stuff
 
Technically copyright has nothing to do with availability.  BIG is doing a
responsible and reasonable job of limiting copyrighted material.  Fair use
exceptions to copyright allow criticism which would apply here.  If short
excerpts were used instead of the whole article it would be fine.  BIG seems
to have a good grasp of that and allows short quotes but not long quotes or
whole articles.
 
Photocopying a newspaper article is actually illegal in many cases but
tolerated.  Strict enforcement of copyright is just too tedious and resource
intensive.  Private use copying of your own purchased newspapers is more
acceptable legally.
 
Since BIG being the editor/publisher of this "journal" is legally
responsible for what is in it, if he didn't moderate it so closely and only
allow digest versions he would have less responsibilty but then we would be
subject to more "spam" mail.  Since its his neck on the line I have no
problem with the job he does on removing copyrighted material.
 
>From:    "Mrs. Duck" <[log in to unmask]>
>They are not prticularly nice to their peoples then either.
>From our personal experience, hobs have no problems with humans while in
>rut.  They are still as cuddly as ever.
 
>, jab vs vasectomised male
 
What is meant by this is "jab" with hormone injection versus using a
vasectomized hob.  In England the term used by breeders for this injection
is a "jill jab".  Both have their purposes.
 
>42 days, best to be seperated from others
 
Only for the last week or two.  Once they start "mothering" the other
ferrets they should be separated as much for the OTHER ferrets as anything.
The last few days they'll get very protective and then its better for the
mom to be to be alone.
 
>In my experience with friends that breed, probably 25% of all pregnancies
>end up with some type of problem.
 
I'm concerned about your friends.  That is WAY too high.  We've had one bad
problem and one over reaction on our part that turned out to not be a
problem.  If your friends have that many problems we would be more than
happy to help out.
 
Breeding ferrets is not an overly hard task.  It brings with it a lot of
responsibility.  A breeder should feel responsible for the ferrets he/she
brought into the world.  We try to keep track of all of our kits to at least
some degree.  We really worry about those we've lost contact with.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1740]