There are some people in California who have CHOSEN to be "outed" in
California.  It's got two sides.  One is that it might cause some very
real problems for those ferrets and ferret people.  (Thank goodness
there's "deportation" now instead of death as an option which some have
used with Jeanne Carley's help.)  The other is that some others think it
will help get support for ferrets -- basically that until people realize
that ferret owners are real and likeable people then they can still be
branded as "whackos".  That makes sense, but it still does scare me.  If
someone ASKS to be outed in an attempt to let folks know CA ferret people
are within the CA norm ;-) then no one else can make their choice for them.
If folks are outed WITHOUT wanting it that is another story.  It's a really
tricky call with the first; with the second it's obvious that privacy must
be given.  Would I personally request to be outed if I lived in an FFZ?
NO, I wouldn't.  The fact of the matter is, though, that I do NOT have any
moral right to stop another person from trying this if that individual
thinks it will help CA fuzzies.  Hey, that person might be right or I might
be right, or both or neither might be.  What is the operative aspect here
is that the CA person has to have CHOSEN this to be the stand he or she
wants to make.
 
*****Bill, may I ask a question?  Would it be possible to somehow know if a
person arrives here only to make a slam?  What I mean is if the person has
never been here before and then suddenly shows up from nowhere only to say
something ugly (Thinking also of the person who tried to cause the problem
between two of us years ago and then turned out to be a false address.)
would it be possible to REQUIRE that the person FIRST post some things
which are CONSTRUCTIVE a few times over at least a few days?
 
I really think we've possibly got a person who is TRYING to provoke fights,
and if that tactic is being used -- heck, if it might even be the same
individual -- or the address is new or false then we really NEED to wed out
these people (person?) because the ENTIRE FML IS HURT.  Is there a way to
do this?  Have any of the posters actually appeared from nowhere to slam
recently as Bob said?  That's what happened that other time, too.  None of
us here need the FML or ourselves hurt this way.*****
 
[Moderator's note: I can set the list such that I automatically have to
approve first-time posts from new subscribers.  And certainly people have
popped up, posted nasty things and then left.  Sometimes I will indeed
question their motives before accepting the post, but all of this is a lot
of manual intervention and there are just so many hours in a night...
 
But yes, I might set it so first-time posts are brought to my attention.
If it gets to be too much I can always set it back.  BIG]
 
Hypothetically, yes, pretty much any mammal COULD spread rabies but some
just plain NEVER have according to records.  There are several reasons why.
First there must be a direct exposure, second enough of the virus must
survive and then successfully travel up the nerves to the brain to
reproduce, third the animal itself has to be able to SURVIVE that brain
damage for intact virus to make it down *other* nerves into places like
the salivary glands.  That means there are some mammals which get rabies
but are unlikely to spread it, either because of being vaccinated, or
because of not being likely to be exposed, or because their bodies fight
rabies quite well, or because they die too fast for intact virus to be
moved down from the brain.  Ferrets fit more than one of these categories.
(Of course, that could be short-circuited if someone wanted to have a type
of mammal which can contract rabies by eating infected tissue eat infected
neurological tissue.  Ferrets and cats can't get it that way, BTW.  Then
again how many infected brains have you eaten or given to your dog?  ;-)
Big joking on the infected brain eating so know I'm grinning in a friendly
way.)  The last I read worldwide there is STILL absolutely NO record of a
ferret having ever passed on rabies.  Now, this is NOT a reason to NOT
vaccinate; the Compendium lists different procedures for those which have
not been vaccinated, and some states or counties have stricter rules.  I'm
merely saying what has been repeated many times before; the probability is
so very incredibly small that this is not likely to be an actual virus
shedding problem; hey, if someone gets it this way then that person's luck
is so abberent that the person should enter multiple huge lotteries.
(Okay, I don't REALLY believe in "conservation of luck"; it's random just
as I am at times.)
 
Differences between polecats and domestic ferrets?  Look in the Natural
History section of
http://www.ferretcentral.org
and search the back FMLs with the search function.
[can also ask server for file NATURAL HISTORY FERRET            BIG]
 
OH, and go to some of the ferrets in art history sites for more recent and
intriguing things, too!
 
Wonderful to read how ferrets saved you.  Made me cry happy tears, Sara.
[Posted in FML issue 2794]