Rebecca writes:
>Sean says Rocky likes Red.
 
Sean is observant!  Tell him I said so.  That's a very important skill to
have; let him know he's a young animal behaviorist!  (BTW, there is at
least one person with a doctorate in animal behavior who shares his novel
perspectives for the same medical reason; wish I could recall her name
offhand; she specializes in ungulate behavior.)
 
From what Bob Church has written it sounds like most ferrets have gray,
black, white, and red; some have no color sight; some have more colors.
'Chopper the Organic Helicopter saw and loved blue.  She would
preferentially steal blue objects and place all of them together, with
nothing of any other colors.
 
Errrr, Dee, when you wrote:
>To Sukie, I am sorry that vets have been scared off the FML in the past by
>rude people, but that is NOT my intention if that is what your post was
>implying.
 
you might have found it useful if you have followed your own sage advice
from two paragraphs above:
 
>These are the types of comments that get flaming wars started.  "Bitching"
>has a negative connotation, and NONE of what I stated was negative, just
>inquisitive.
 
I was stating fact; be careful to not turn that into IMPLICATION which
could be unpleasant to some.  Fact of the matter is that it's easy to read
things into comments that aren't there and that can start fights as well.
Reading in an implication which isn't there can do that.
 
BTW, he might have been using a regional use of "bitching"; it's not as
negative in some areas.  Don't know because I don't know where he lives.
This is like when Steve's mom, Sue, and I first met over 20 years ago.
In farms where I grew up the "s" word was just a normal one for waste but
the "c" word was a cuss-word.  In farms where she grew up the "c" word was
a normal waste word but the "s" word was a cuss-word.  Sometimes a person
just has to give the benefit of the doubt and know that there are regional
variations, so when there are multiple interpretations it pays to go with
the better one.  Have sure seen words like "bitching" and "implying" cause
fights in the past, though; the latter being especially loaded because it
can make people think that the original poster said something that was
never said so things have gone 'round and 'round about something never said
in the first place -- which would be funny if it weren't sad.  I'm not
going to get my nose out of joint over either in this situation and hope
no one else will, and agree with you that people have to take words into
account.  I figure that I've got enough on my plate with sick older
relatives and Meeteetse's needs to be upset about a word or two.
Rewriting can be so useful when possible, can't it?
 
>Perhaps I took your post as directed towards me (since I am the only one
>who has raised questions about this)?  Not sure, but rest assured, Dr.
>Williams is a "gift" to the FML and I would not ever try to discourage
>him from posting.
 
Yep.  Maybe a little less coffee or a little more would have worked better
since you said that it was too early in morning for you.  LOL!
 
Flax Seed Oil: for safety's sake just do remember that (from an exceedingly
reputable resource for human health) that it is contraindicated if there is
any GI obstruction, or any GI inflammation or discomfort of unknown cause,
also that there is a form of poisoning hypothetically possible if large
doses are given over a long space of time.  We're going to wait till after
shed season is over to try it on Ashling.
[Posted in FML issue 3202]