All this talk about vacuum-attacking ferrets has reminded me of a
ferret "tail" I forgot to mention a while back. (BTW, my furballs
love to jump all over the dustbuster when I use it.)
 
A friend of mine who also has ferrets bought a couple small remote
control cars as ferret toys.  The cars are smaller than the ferrets
themselves, just large enough to be able to drive on relatively flat
carpet and tile. (Approx. 8" long, 4" wide, 1.5" high)
 
Anyway, we decided to see how my four foot-fiends would react to the
cars.  Their first reaction was quite predictable, pouncing on them as
they went by, chasing them as they backed up, etc.  However, at one
point when I stopped my car, Fritter decided she wanted it for
herself.  She grabbed it by the rear spoiler and dragged it away,
fighting it when I tried to get it to drive away from her.  From then
on, every time she could get ahold of that spoiler she'd take the car
with her under the couch.  The fact that the car "fought back" only
made her more enthusiastic.  Soon she was chittering and dancing in
front of it, displaying her prowess. ;)
 
BTW, Chris, I think you're doing a great job, and I agreed with the
actions you took that resulted in some folks calling you a tyrant.
You're entitled to run the list any way you like since it uses your
resources and personal time.
 
[Much as I enjoy having my ego stroked, I think we let this subject
die.  The result seems rather clear.]
 
--Greg
 
[Posted in FML issue 0338]