Some folks on the FMl have been here since it's inception, others are
just joining a great bunch of us have been herer somewhere in between
those times; we all come here to share experiences, ask questions, post
"look at this!" items, and in general talk about ferrets. The format
here is different from other ferret forums which are done in so called
"real time" and that have specific areas for thevarious ferret venues.
THis is a failry simple straight forward format of a gathering of
emails with a similar subject matter - ferrets.
There are frequent emailers, and infrequent emailers. I'd say that
without actually compilinsg statistics that the two predominant venues
of emails are regarding ferrets that have passed and shelters needing
support. Both topics of course that touch practically every ferret
owner at some point or another.
Then there are nutriton posts and of course health posts bringing
up the next two most common; with enrichment, ferrets in the news,
tragedies and comic adventures bringing up the tail.
Every last one of these posts are written from a person - I am unaware
of any computer being able to formulate a story on its own. So this
person of course will have experiences,emotions, possibly first hand
or second knowledge of the subject or just simply a point of view to
present.
Some of the posts are written off the cuff, others are well thought
out, some are fraught with typos, mis-spellings and poor grammar - but
the poster's ideas still come through.
THis is a place for ferret aficionados from all walks of life and all
over the world to gather - granted it is predominantly an english
speaking gathering - but with today's technologies I've seen a few
posts come through that were translations of the poster's native
language.
Whenever you get this many people with such a wide variety of
backgrounds you will ALWYAS get a wide variety of view points! Each one
who posts may consider their viewpoint to be best - or at least best
for them; but those that read the posts at least get another viewpoint
to consider, mull over and possibly utilize to make changes to their
own approaches of ferret care.
Its difficult for many people to separate the personal from the subject
matter but if Bill were to ONLY post the nicey nicey, sweetness and
light , lovey dovey - oh my ferret is just so cute and please pray for
my ferret - it is sick, or please greet my ferret at the rainbow bridge
topics - then the FML would NOT be a place where people gather to
learn, share or expound!
I am NOT a stranger to controversial subjects - from vet care to
nutrition to housing to management, I now have 10 ferrets and ALL of
them are rescues from one situation or another. While I am a proponent
of natural diets Two of the ten are still comfirmed kibble crunchers,
two more are venturing into the natural diet and the remaining 6 have
transitioned to natural raw and whole prey. Some of my rescues were
simple rehomings because of familial changes, others were just uncared
for, unwanted ferrets. I've dealt with insulinoma, AM dealing with
insulinoma and adrenal and my very first ferret succumbed to sudden
onset juvenile lymphosarcoma. At this point, I do NOT see myself
PURCHASING another ferret - instead I choose to rescue them.
Does this make me a "rescue"? Depends upon your definition - I'd say
yes, a private rescue. Does that obligate me to rescue every ferret
that crosses my path? Certainly not! IF I had a 501c3 designation would
that obligate me? NOPE! In my other life as a farrier - I learned
early on - YOU CANNOT save them all! the animal's caretakers have that
responsibility - all we can do is offer them the knowledge to do so.
There will ALWAYS be cold hearted ne-er do wells that have no
compassion for the animals in their care, that will discard the animal
when it becomes ill or no longer is fun, and unfortunately those of us
who can offer help can only offer help to so many.
My limit at this time is 10, but I STILL can help transport ferrets to
other rescuers that CAN manage just one more - and here in lies the
need for a NETWORK that communicates amongst itself! We don't ALL have
to agree on nutrition, vet care, housing, playtime, enrichment - but it
WOULD be nice to agree to see if we could help just one more ferret -
and when we cannot - we have to come to grips with the reality that
they CANNOT all be saved.
I think Bill Gruber does a fantastic job of assembling and monitoring
the FML - allowing so called controversial ( because a controversy is
simply a topic that two or more sides cannot agree upon) topics to be
bantered about is a great way to discuss different viewpoints and
sometimes come to grips with situations!
A "FLAME" as I understand it, is a posting in the cyber world meant as
a direct attack upon a person - usually accompanied with poor language
and abusive statements. A post that simply states a contrary viewpoint
is NOT in itself a FLAME - unless the poster has lowered themselves to
name calling and a personal attack.
If a particualr subject rubs you the wrong way then utilize the scroll
option and bypass it! Much like the local library - you only chose the
books you WANT to read! Just because you walked thgough the front
dooors does NOT obligate you to read every book in the library!
Although sometimes choosing a book at random can be a fun way to
broaden your horizons!
Keep up the good work Bill!
Cheers!
Kim
please visit :
for ferret help and info:
http://holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi
http://ferretopia.proboards51.com/index.cgi
yahoo groups Natural Ferrets
[Posted in FML 6622]
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