I received an e-mail that has me a bit disturbed.  I am not sure how to
take it.
 
It started when I received a message from someone looking for a blind
and/or deaf ferret.  This struck me as odd, but the response was even
odder.  I let the person know that yes we do have one older blind ferret,
but that we would not adopt it to anyone who was involved in some kind of
research.  Well the response come back and yes it is for research, but in
the strangest thing I have heard.
 
It seems that they want to try to train ferrets to find LAND MINES!  Sense
ferrets have such a good sense of smell and are very light the theory is
that they will be able to locate the mine without setting them off.  She
pointed out that unlike dogs they will not go feral.  She also mentioned
how much the people in these mined country would love them since they would
be doing a service by helping locate and remove the mines.
 
Pardon the pun, but I was blown away!
 
First I do not see this as very likely, although I feel ferrets are
trainable their attention span is just not long enough in my opinion.  I
am not sure about the weight and them not being able to set off the mine
either.  I know ours can do pretty much anything that want.
 
She did say that she didn't think she could use the blind one we have.  So
I didn't have to tell her that we would not agree to that anyway.  Our
ferrets are for pets, not research.
 
Although I think this is a noble cause I don't feel the ferret is the right
animal.  Try pigs they have a great sense of smell and are very smart.
 
Chloe R. Fearing And Kona Morgan
 
Ferret Friends  Shelter and Rescue
Tucson, AZ.
 
Http://DCPCC.Pima.Edu/~Cfearing/
Http://members.tripod.com/FerretFriends/
[Posted in FML issue 2850]