Hello All,
 
I have stayed away from commenting in the past, but this hit my limit.
Misinformation or misuse of words just gets me, as you may well be aware
of. Pet peeve.
 
Now, most of this post, not all (see below) are from my personal
observations and owning multiples of animals, pet sitting, and working with
my vets on a voluntary basis (they let me hang around and take care of sick,
witness surgeries, etc.).  Besides, the opinions contained here in are worth
what you pay for them.
 
>They are God's greediest creatures you've ever witnessed: They screetch,
>scream and yip at each other in voices that are surprisingly loud and really
>intense.  They want each to eat in private and absolutely will not share if
>they can help it.  One could say, in effect, they've become mad.
 
Although I have seen this behavior in many, many different type of animals,
I would not call it mad.  And for some reason this poster seems to have a
lot of trouble with their ferrets.
 
I have had dogs I had to stand in the middle of to feed, otherwise they
fight.  I have had cats who would growl and hiss over canned food and attack
anyone close by.  And I have had my beloved Pookster bite me by accident
over a raisin.  But you know what?  It is all just animal behavior, it is
not insanity.  No matter how cute we may think it to label it as such.  And
even as a joke, when not made extremely clear it is a joke, does harm to an
already bad perception of ferrets.
 
And mostly, this behavior will lessen if the much wanted food, be it
whatever, is had on a regular basis.  They know when it is unusual or
normal, and adjust to the feeding frequency.  Dogs?  A lot of dogs like this
are from kennels that let them fight over food.  Cats?  Usually with cats it
is when they have been starved or not given good food.  And with the
ferrets, I know it is the same thing.
 
*If* the ferret is being fed regularly, then this behavior comes about when
a scarcely given treat is given.  Give the treat more regularly then the
ferrets calm down.  *If* you have this behavior for regualarly given food,
then I would guess that the ferret isn't getting enough food period.
 
>Don't ever give your ferrets meat (chicken); why?  'cause it'll make them
>mean!  Yep ... that's surely true; at least for the period of time they're
>fighting each other over their precious tidbits.
 
This is the second time I have ran across folks lately that think high
protien foods make animals mean.  Just what in the hell do you think
carnivores eat in the wild?  It isn't the food, it is the availability of
the food.
 
>The killzenferrets have somehow related the fecundity of the female, (No.
>of ova -eggs-) to the female's seasonality,
 
Actually, fecundity isn't just the number of ovum produced.  It is the
theoretical reproduction potential of a female.  So, seasonality does play a
part in it.  Here are the major points which affect fecundity:
 
Proportion of ovulatory cycles, length of fertility period over lifetime,
probablility of conception per fertility period, ovarian cycle, frequency of
insemination.  The first two affect fecundity the most, the last two the
least.
 
Fertility, on the other hand, is the actual live births produced by a
female.  This is affected by (terms are given in somewhat human terms)-age
at menarche (start of menses), age in mating (or marriage), waiting time to
conception, fetal loss (time added), length of gestation, length of
lactational infertility, age at menopause (human).  The two factors most
affecting fertility are age in mating and length of lactational infertility.
 
Just went over this in my human biology class, as taught by Dr. Stout,
forensic anthropologist.
 
>The fault may not be entirely the female's, even though we guys know that
>the female of the species is inferior (I cite Adam's rib).
 
All I can hope for here is that this is a rather poor joke.  If it isn't,
then you are more misinformed than I realized.
 
Something for thought, females give more parental investment than males, yet
can live longer.  Just exactly what about that makes them inferior?  And
since women can turn off their reproductive systems, thereby reducing
reproductive costs, allowing them to live longer, what does that say?  And
never mind we only have one head we think with.
 
Mad Maggie in Mid Mo
[Posted in FML issue 2133]