If this had been a cat or dog would that statement have been made?  How
would that statement make dogs and cats look in other peoples eyes?  How
many people still believe cats will suck the breath out of babies and
Dobermans, Rotties, German Shepherds, Pit Bulls are all mean and don't make
good companions?  Do you see where I'm going with this?
 
AND if this was a dog or cat the baby would have needed more than just 100
stitches and it would probably have not made national news (with 1-3 million
dog bites a year wouldn't you think we'd hear about at least 1 incident?
Did you hear about the 3 dogs that killed a little boy in Kansas late last
year?).
 
If, and I did say IF, the ferret did this, what was the cause?  Could the
sound a crying baby makes hurt a ferrets ears?  Certain decibels of sound
cause irritation in humans and other animals.  Could the ferret have been
trying to move the baby when it heard it crying?  Even in their drunken
state how could the parents not have heard the cries of the infant when it
was laying between them?  How was it determined the bites were from the
ferret?  Did the attending physician ask the parents what happened and did
they say it was the ferret?  Were other pets in the home?  Was the
neighborhood rat-infested?  So many unanswered questions.
 
As most of you know I share my home and life with many ferrets.  The
majority are from another way of life (including breeder ferrets that
never knew the kindness of humans until they came to us) that included
abuse/neglect/cruelty, etc.  ALL of the ferrets are free roam and have
access to me even when I'm sleeping or bathing.  No closed doors in our
home, except for the basement which is not ferret safe and contains
furnace/ac, hot water heater, washer and dryer.  The only time I'm in the
basement is to do laundry.  The rest of the time I'm home, I'm with the
ferrets.  NEVER have I seen or experienced a "killer instinct" in any of
these ferrets.
 
I work with biters.  Even in the worst cases (we've had some severe
abuse/neglect cases) I've only experienced fear bites.
 
In the beginning, Killer (Killer was from the Fredonia bunch and happily
lives with Lynda) use to charge if you got too close.  This was his scare
tactic.  It worked with the man-breeder that had him before he came to us.
Killer is now the same as all our other loving ferrets.  He cuddles and
kisses and craves human interaction.
 
Rusty is also a breeder ferret.  He would bite terribly hard when he was
picked up because he related hands to pain.  These were fear bites, not
aggression or killer instinct bites.  Now Rusty is as sweet as any ferret
and tolerates my several times daily hugs, kisses, and cuddles.  His
greatest joy is to cruise through the house checking out the other ferrets
to see if any newcomers have arrived.  :-)
 
Years ago we lived in a mobile home surrounded by pastures.  Field mice
regularly moved into our home, taking the liberty to eat and drink out of
the same bowls and water bottles the ferrets did (not at the same time
though).  The ferrets didn't mind one bit.  One time I found a baby hairless
mouse in the same bed as 3 ferrets.  The mouse must have fallen from a
cabinet when momma mouse moved it and it just happened to land in the back
part of a ferret bed.  The ferrets, all 3 of them, were sleeping soundly at
the front of the bed and the baby mouse was sleeping soundly in the back.
Another time Marley found a big mouse and when he'd pick it up the mouse
would squeak so he'd put it back down.  I'm sure the mouse was confused as I
think Marley only wanted to place it with the rest of his stashed socks and
toys and the mouse probably thought it was going to be killed.  No, Marley
didn't harm the mouse.
 
Of course we've all heard the stories of ferrets that had gotten in to
gerbil, mouse, hamster cages and made quick work of the littler critters.
 
In my personal view, it is only human animals that have a true killer
instinct.  We plan and kill our prey and sometimes we kill without the plan.
While the majority of us refrain from doing so, the instinct is still there
(ever been so angry for a fleeting second you wanted to kill someone).
 
Hugs to all. tle
[Posted in FML issue 2229]