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From:
Wes Hurley <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 1 Jun 2005 09:31:38 -0500
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This is Susie Lee, one of the co-directors of The Ferret And Dove
Sanctuary, Inc.  Sort-of-kind-of replying to everybody about a couple
of ferret-nutrition items...the first is more like a question.  In wild
circumstances, weasels, minks, mongooses, and wild ferrets have been
observed by naturalists and also several related species filmed (National
Geographic's special about the dooking, shorter-bodied, very-ferret-like
African Mongoose especially comes to mind...we rented a copy from the
library and it explained a LOT of stuff on ferrets' behavior and
reactions to things)...eat worms and insects when they come across them,
as though these live, meaty-in-their-own-ways items were treats.  Now,
call me senile (I'm old enuf!  :) But!  Has anyone looked into the
possibility of offering crickets or worms as a treat for domesticated
ferrets?
 
I don't know that we will, in fact, I'm pretty sure I won't be doing this
until someone else does it first, but, hey, maybe there's insectivorous
or vermiform-y nutrition that the domestic ferrets have been missing out
on, all this time, and the rest of us don't know of it!?
 
The other thing is, we've been "making" our own treats of what the
in-shelter ferrets most demand, bits of naturally sweet fruit, for over
8 years, now, and what I do is go get organic dried mangoes, organic
raisins (meaning non-sweetened), dried pineapples, papayas, and sometimes
get some unsweetened cranberries (from local food co-op) or even
blueberries (you can get bags of dried blueberries from Sam's Club) and
spend half an hour or so every evening cutting down and mixing the bits,
which includes cutting each and every raisin, for the ferrets' demands
for treats during the next day while everyone is being let out in shifts.
 
However, no matter how any given ferret might beg, nobody gets more than
a few small pieces.  If their demands are strictly for raisins (or
whatever...we have several avid pineapple-bits-takers, here), they will
still get no more than what amounts to two and a half to three whole
raisins from no more than five to six chopped bits.  In this way, we know
that they're getting natural vitamins and minerals which the friut has
which meat does not, AND that nobody gets either too much of anything,
nor to big of a piece of anything.
 
So maybe you don't have 56 ferrets to look out for, maybe you've got,
like five to seven, or even fewer...what's the matter with buying organic
dried fruit and cutting the friut down to safe-sized bits and storing the
pre-chopped bunches-of-bits inzipped bags in your fridge?  Once the
packages are opened, y'gotta 'fridge 'em anyway...and besides, if you
want, you can snack on the dried friut your own self ...I heard it's
good for ya!  Probably maybe not as good as a juicy worm or cricket,
but better tasting!
[Posted in FML issue 4896]

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