Hi Everybody:
        Good news.  I just got a call from my friends at the State House and
the Ferret Bill has been given a number (Bill No 295).  It has been assigned
to the Natural Resources and Agricultural Committee.
 
        Now this is REAL preliminary cause the bill hasn't even been printed
yet, and the 'research' staff assignments for the committee haven't been
made as yet either.  I was told however that if the normal progression
follows, hearings MAY come about in March or April.
 
        So ..... having no experience with this, and also very little
knowledge of what transpired in previous years, we need some additional
contacts with some concerned people in Mass.  I have been in touch with Dick
& Joan Bossart in New Hampshire as well as a few others in Mass who are
interested, but none of us can do it alone.  IF you are a concerned person
in Mass, or know of someone who might know someone in Mass who might like to
own a ferret (smile); please post a short note here, or email to
<[log in to unmask]> and they will get back to me.
 
[Moderator's note - not sure if makes much sense to post a short note
 here unless you don't do it anonymously.
 By the way, sometimes I receive notes from people asking that I forward
 their note to one anonymous poster or another.  I comply when I can, but
 I don't keep a record of who posts anonymously, so I can't forward stuff
 unless I remember who posted it (which I often do).  BIG]
 
        So far people have been really open and helpful, though unwilling as
I am just yet to announce themselves publicly and risk their pets.  Those I
have met at the State House are also quite supportive, though fully occupied
with many competing demands on their time.  Also as we move into this, it
really shouldn't need to be repeated how VERY IMPORTANT it is to remain
polite and focused on the goal which is to legalize the ownership of
ferrets.  Angry as we all get from time to time at such things as the
execution of the poor Maryland ferret, when you think about it, it obviously
does a lot more harm than good to direct that aggression toward the very
people that we are asking for help.
 
        Most people who are not aquainted with ferrets think of them as
small biting mammals with very sharp teeth or as large rodents who may
spread disease.  I missed the Northern Exposure program, but am still
hearing about the reaction of the bridge group here when Rocky ambled into
view.  Some of the ladies were actually standing on top of their chairs.
 
        Thus it is most important to approach the task as one of winning
people's hearts and overcoming their fears, even more than that of winning
their minds.  As the experience in Michigan and California shows it can be a
long journey, which conceivably may not be completed this year.  I am
convinced however that we can make some substantial progress, and also that
we can have some fun with it as well.
 
                        Send Joan and Dick a note.
 
                                - Rocky and Squeekers say "thank you".
 
        P.S. Re ferret noises.  Rockey does snore quite a bit, always
comforting to hear her in her box at night.  Squeekers also barks (only one
though, not like a dog), chiefly when he feels he is alone or wants
attention.  When he was a baby it sounded like, well that's how he got his name.
[Posted in FML issue 1088]