I was going to stay completely out of the discussions with Edward, but
I am afraid I have to chime in here and agree with Kim and Edward -
ferrets, as well as dogs and cats will kill just for the thrill.

Yes, killing is instinctual, and is meant as a means of survival. But,
our beloved pets will do it for fun, if they do not need to do it for
survival. Here are 3 examples of why I say this.

Example 1 - My parents used to raise Siberian huskies. These dogs were
allowed to be inside or out during the day, and were kept inside at
night. They were fairly well trained for household pets, and knew that
little creatures in the house were not to be touched. At one point my
parents also had a house cat, and at another point a guinea pig, and
the huskies never bothered either of these animals.

Outdoors was a different matter, though. These dogs would stalk and
catch birds and squirrels (and any other small animal that happened
into the yard) and kill them. They never ate what they killed, but
would play with the carcass of their kill until my parents found it
and took it away.

I once witnessed them stalk and kill a squirrel, and they did it with
great glee. There were 3 of them at the time, and after catching the
poor squirrel and killing it, they played with it.

My parents did not really approve of this behavior, but did understand
it was an instinctual and natural behavior. They did what they could to
prevent it (the dogs wore collars with bells when they went into the
yard), but it still happened from time to time.

These dogs were fed a commercial diet, and did not view their kills as
food. They never made any attempt to eat what they caught and killed.
They simply hunted and killed for fun.

Example 2 - My first house was an old house that had a dug out basement
under part of it, and crawl space under other parts. It was poorly
insulated, and had plenty of ways for small creatures like mice to get
into the house. At the time, I had 4 house cats. These were well fed
cats who ate a commercial diet. At night, if a mouse came up into the
house, the cats would hunt it, catch it, and play with it until it
died.

Sometimes they would make a ruckus while in the process of catching and
playing with a mouse, and I would wake up and go to investigate what
was going on. I would find them very excited and playing with their
prey. If the mouse was still unhurt, I would take it from them and
turn it loose in a park near my house the next day. Otherwise, I would
dispose of the body.

But, sometimes, they would be quiet enough that I would not be
awakened. On those occasions, I would awake the next morning to find a
dead mouse in my bed. Apparently, after they tired of playing with the
mouse, they would bring it to me. While I can't say for certain that
they never ate what they caught and killed, I don't think they did.
They were well fed, and never gave me any indication they wanted to eat
a mouse. They did not view the mouse as food - just something to play
with. And, from what I observed when I caught them in the act, they
very much enjoyed playing with and killing the mouse.

Example 3 - At one point I had sugar gliders in addition to ferrets and
cats. I went to great lengths to make certain that the sugar gliders
were never out when either cats or ferrets were around. But, one night
a joey managed to squeeze through the cage bars and get loose in the
house while we were asleep. Unfortunately, this joey chose to go into
a ferret cage. At the time, I was feeding my ferrets only kibble. The
ferrets killed the joey, but did not eat it. The next morning, I found
the corpse in the ferrets' cage.

I did not witness what had happened in the night, but it appeared the
body of the joey had been played with.

I now have ferrets that eat whole prey. I do not feed live prey, but
pre-killed frozen and thawed prey to my ferrets. Often before eating a
chick or a mouse, they will grab it by the neck and shake it, as though
trying to kill it. They do this with a light of excitement in their
eyes. I suspect that if given a live mouse or chick, they would happily
kill it, but since they are used to eating prey, would see it as food
and eat it as well.

This is a side of our pets we do not like to think about, but it is all
part of their natural instincts. Carnivore animals that are not fed a
prey diet will often still kill a smaller animal, even though they do
not consider it food. They do it as a matter of instinct. But, they
will do it with great vigor and will appear to be thoroughly enjoying
the act. It is like they are getting an adrenalin rush from the act.

I am sorry if people find this offensive, but the truth is, it is
something very natural. I personally would never give my ferrets a
live mouse or chick, because I feel it would be inhumane for the prey
animal. I realize I am depriving me ferrets of the pleasure of the
kill, but I think it is something they can live without. However, I
also do not condemn people who choose to feed their ferret live prey.

I am certain there are ferrets, as well as cats and dogs that will not
kill, and do not have to be trained not to kill, but there are also
many that will. In the 3 examples I gave, none of the animals were ever
trained to kill, and in fact the killing was discouraged. Also, none
of the animals in those examples felt a need to kill to get food. They
made no attempt to eat their kill. They simply did it for the fun of it.

Danee DeVore
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[Posted in FML 6224]