>From:    Alicia K Drakiotes <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Ferret Owners are dim witted?
 
Please let this die.  Too many ferret owners have attacked Kevin Cowherd so
he wrote a follow up article.  Basically some ferret owners are trying to
prove his dim-witted comments true.
 
The guy is a humorist.  Maybe you don't think he's funny.  But serious
rebuttals to satire fall flat.  Nothing gets accomplished except to make the
writers look like stuffed shirts.
 
The first article was sort of lame with only a couple fo funny bits.  The
second was much funnier because he chose a better topic - lunatic ferret
owners.  This we know exist.
 
All the negative feedback is backfiring.  The more "Attacks" Mr Cowherd gets
the funnier we seem.  Its embarrassing actually.
 
We've had a few folks who didn't take themselves too seriously and posted
while not infavor of Kevin Cowherd's articale they distanced themselves from
some of the silly posts.
 
>From:    Lisa Leidig - Ferret Rescue of Tidewater <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: ferret w/ulcer;heartworm;pamphlets
>Marshall Farms - I think by now everyone knows where I stand <grin>.  I
>boycott MF for early spay/neuter, and I will leave it at that. [...]
>If I don't agree, you don't get my money, its that simple.
 
Exactly what we do.  Well okay we write a bit more but we certainly do
absolutely nothing that supports them financially (well except by promoting
ferrets in general we end up helping them since the supply ferrets to most
people).
 
Wish others would do like you and not make up other things.
 
>From:    Regina Harrison <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: MF tracking; comment/query on Hagen
 
Tracking the birth year isn't going to help with the ultimate goal.  The
goal is to help MF isolate any genetic source of certain cancers.  The
simplist method we've come up with equal input from others here on the list
is to arbitrarily divide their barns into groups and mark each group
differently.  Your idea of different toes might be better than ours of a
letter code and even cheaper.  A different toe to track each group.
 
The idea is that if one group shows more cancers than the others that groups
influence on breeding is reduced or ended.  If they tend to breed like
colors than they can use that to further subdivide the groups and make it
even more precise.  This is not a "good" scientific approach but based on
the scale it might be the best we can do.
 
As i've said this will take effort on our parts to assist Marshall.  If we
prove we are willing to help they will likely be more willing to go along
with it.
 
>From:    Barbara Laugesen <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Microchipping
 
I'm not a big fan of microchipping.  All you get is a single unique code.
But with a proper database if the parents of a ferret are known and tracked
carefully.  You can get out precisely as much as you put in.  This is what
pedigrees are supposed to be about now.
 
As far as the AFA's involvemet, ask them.  Send email to [log in to unmask] and
state your ideas.  This isn't something we'll get inolved in as we don't
think the cost will be ultimately low enough to happen.
 
>From:    Sheena Staples <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: MF Vet procedures
>At that conference my veterinarian received a poster of the internal
>workings of the ferret, produced by MF.  I think it's a bigger version of
>the one in the Fox book; anyone know if I can get one from somewhere?
>Should I just write MF, or does anyone have them that could send me one (I'd
>pay, of course...)
 
Sure that was a couple years ago and not last year in Baltimore?
 
Check the AFA web site for products:
   http://www.ferret.org/prodord.htm
 
Ferret anatomy poster $14.95
 
Don't know about Canadian costs.  Again annoy I mean write [log in to unmask] or
call 1-888-FERRET-1 (do toll free lines work across that border?)
 
Let us know if it ends up much more than that price - we can always send it
if that works out better price wise.
 
bill and diane killian
zen and the art of ferrets
http://www.zenferret.com/
mailto:[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1986]