following is a link to an article that I found fascinating:
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/11/magazine/11COINCIDENCE.html
?8hpist=&pagewanted=print&position=bottom
[free registration may be required.  BIG]
 
it talks a bit about statistices and probabilities and people making
something out of coincidences.  I know people on the FML wonder now and
then about the seemingly high rates of various diseases in ferrets and
events and maybe this will shed some light on whether we should make
something out of it, and whether they are really that high.
 
a quote from the article:
 
   The really unusual day would be one where nothing unusual happens.
   Given that there are 280 million people in the United States, 280
   times a day, a one-in-a-million shot is going to occur.
 
a vet in the exotics at University of Guelph also told me that hedgehogs
are much more prone to tumours than ferrets.
 
hope you guys enjoy this.
 
// ************************************************
// Selina, Birch, Dief, Sprite,       Sand and Bear
//                      missing Storm
// http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/~ssiu
[Posted in FML issue 3875]