We do not agree with Matan that ferrets need to have babies but that is an
opinion.  Ferrets as all animals have a strong drive to procreate but that
does not mean that they need to have offspring.  Neutering an animal will
normally completely end that drive.  We feel that that is a good thing.
 
>From:    punchbug <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Matan's book
>
>Animals don't have sex because they ENJOY it.
 
Chimpanzees (normal and pygmy) as well as porpoises are known to have sex
for pleasure.  It is not believed that ferrets do have sex for pleasure.
 
But if they don't have sex for pleasure, why do they have it?
 
Because it is one of their strongest drives, right up their with hunger
and thirst.
 
>Only humans DESIRE to have offspring, only humans go to great lengths to
>plan and prepare.
 
That would depend upon your definition of desire?  Animals have strong
drives for procreation.
 
>From:    Myrmi Cat <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Matan's ferret book
>
>I must say, this is one book I would really like to read (if I knew Hebrew
>that is).  After all the disatrous posts from Matan lately, I do hope this
>book will not be a manual on how to best neglect your ferret.
 
That was an uncalled for inflamtory comment.  There is no evidence Matan
neglects ferrets.  Just has a different opinion on how to properly care
for ferrets.  There were many other insults directed at Matan merely for
having trouble expressing opinions in English.
 
>[Moderator's note: OK, that's what I call a very borderline post.  I
>invite your votes directly to me: should I have not accepted it?  BIG]
 
That was far from the only inflammatory post allowed.  No worse than
several others we could name.
 
>From:    Percy Pwood Georgia Wood <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Idealistic thinking
>
>People, people, people, Matan is young and has the enthusiasm and idealism
>of youth.  He wishes to be a ferret raiser, a breeder as it were, and to
>supply the needs (or desires) of a market.  What is that line we are
>always telling our kids?  We Learn by Doing!
 
Thank you for seeing that differing opinions are a good thing.  Now it
is just as good a thing when debate about why an opinion might be better
than another.  We personally agree with most that seem to post here that
procreation is not necessary for all animals.  Matan though is not the only
one that holds such a belief.  We've heard from people here in the US as
well.
 
>From:    Kim Reyes <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Matan
>
>I know everyone is concerned about Matan and so am I.  I have been
>emailing him for several months.  He is young, he can speak and write
>broken English, but the native language of Israel is Hebrew.
 
Excellent post.  And how many of us could do as well in a converstation
in Hebrew?
 
(bill's added comments)
I worked for an Israeli company and had to lead a team of two Russian
immigrants to Israel.  That was a challenge.  But by no means did I
consider them to be ignorant since they could converse well in two
languages, Russian and Hebrew while I could merely work in English.
 
We are loathe to get in on this but did want to point out a few example
good and bad posts.  We do not mean to pick on these individuals but
hopefully try to improve communications.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
[Posted in FML issue 3452]