(Sorry for being behind the times on this and I'm doubly sorry if someone
else already mentioned this.  I've only skimmed the FML these past few days)
 
>From:    Jerry Price <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Behaivor question and a myth
> . . .
>He then told me that each year about a thousand babies or so are
>killed each year because of the ferrets desire for blood.
 
In my opinion, the best way to deal with statements like this is to answer
with statistics, names, & dates.  Obviously, he can't back up his claims.
So maybe if you can hit him with logic, you can change his mind.
 
I poked around on the web and rather quickly found L.I.F.E's bite statistics
from 1995 (http://members.gnn.com/AcmeFerret/lifepage/biteinfo.html).  (I
simplified the statistics so they are more easy to remember, they need to be
easy to pull out of your head when you meet the misinformed)
 
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, 1995
statistics there were more than
     64 THOUSAND dog bites per million dogs (800 of those serious), and
     200 ferret bites per million ferrets (43 serious).
This means you are about 300 times more likely to be bit by the average
dog, than by the average ferret!
 
(And this is using the incredably conservative AVMA estimate on the ferret
population.  Using Marshell Farms records to estimate the ferret population,
the numbers are 13 bites per million ferrets, and only 2 of those serious,
showing that dogs almost 5000 times more likely to bite than ferrets).
 
Use these numbers the next time you run into a myth quoting bozo (and
remember the sources and dates to back them up).  There's nothing like being
able to give hard numbers AND sources to win an argument (well, assuming you
are talking to a rational person, that is).
 
But the statistic I was really looking for was the number of Confirmed Human
Deaths caused by a ferret attack.  I know we have discussed this before, but
I can't remember, and I couldn't seem to find it during my hour on the web
(ok, so I did spend some of that hour looking at fert pictures).  Have there
been ANY?  If there have been any, please also give sources and dates.
Please, someone tell me so I can use it if I need it.
 
Thanks
 
Norris (for the gang, Mark, Gunther, Nico, Ozzie, and Miranda, the feline
incarnation of Saten)
 
P.S.  We forced our wedding photographer to take a picture of us in full
formal getup with the ferrets.  We just got the proofs and it looks great.
I hope to get it on the web one of these days.
[Posted in FML issue 1648]