Greetings!
Thanks to all who wrote/posted with suggestions, comments and support
regarding Gillian.  I could have saved many of you a few sentences if I
had remembered to include in my original post that she appears to be fully
sighted and is definitely able to hear.  Given her 'aggression' and marking
the deafness was my first thought, but she reacts to the rattling of a treat
container and the squeak of a toy.  She also reacts to toys suspended over
her head on either side and reacts to a hand on either side of her head.  I
understand blindness is the most difficult of the two to assess due to their
heightened senses of smell and hearing, hense the comment that she 'appears'
to be fully sighted.  Her biting (or lack thereof) is improving.  Her cage
is still her sanctuary and she'll 'defend' against ungloved intrusion;
however when one of us picks up the glove (kept adjacent to the cage),
Gillian will stop what she's doing, sit patiently and make no resistance
toward being removed by the gloved hand.  She's psycho enough when she's out
that she bites more out of exuberance than fear or aggression.  She's much
more receptive to human hands when free than when caged.  I thank whoever
gave the 'open palm down' suggestion.  I have scrapes on my palm, but those
are much preferred to punctures on the fingers.
 
Next question to those infinitely more experienced in this category:
ferret-ferret interaction.  We keep our crew caged while Gillian runs.
While doing a water change on Gillian's cage, our little girl Fiona snuck
into her cage while our backs were turned and was, for lack of a better
word, attacked by Gillian.  Since then we've tried to socialize her with
some of our crew via through-the-bars introductions.  Gillian will give a
few sniffs and then attempt to snack on whatever part of the ferret is
protruding through the bars (nose, foot, tail).  Is this a sign that Gillian
is destined to be a solo ferret for the rest of her life or is there hope
that when she finally gets comfortable in her new (temporary?) home she'll
grow to enjoy their company?  Or is it, as I suspect/hope, just too early to
tell?  If it's hopeless, she'll be near to impossible to adopt out since she
won't be able to go to a home WITH ferrets, yet she really needs someone
who's experienced with ferrets.  I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we
come to it.  Thanks again for all your advice and words of encouragement.
 
For those of you in the Burlington, Vermont area who are mourning the
losses of the two premier ferrets vets in this area (Dr. Tracy bell, now in
Virginia and Dr. Ross Prezant, now in sunny Florida)I have some good news.
We have found a vet who we have found to be very competent, compassionate,
enjoyable, and personable.  She 'correctly' answered the questions I asked
(and was pleased that someone cared enough for their animals' care to ask)
and asked of us questions that WE felt any good vet should ask about the
health and care of their patients and their homelife.  Elizabeth and
Francois Miquel run the Essex Veterinary Clinic.  Their practice is a small
one and as such they don't want to be a high-volume vet like several of the
other offices around where you get put on a 1-2 week waiting list for an
appointment; we've usually get same-day appointments with the Miquels.  I'll
try to get exact town/city/practice locations for Dr's Prezant and Bell and
pass them along so that folks without decent can take their babies to some
of the best (at least the best I've come across)!
 
One last, slightly long-winded note: To those of you who continue to donate
dollars to the shelters/halfway-houses.  THANK YOU!  Your contributions and
words of support have brightened our days and given a long week of drudgery
a bright side.  Thanks to all!
 
         -Erin...
          Underfoot Halfway House
 
=========================
   Mr. Erin M. Ennis    |       Any sufficiently convoluted argument can
 eennis(at)zoo,uvm,edu  |       be made to appear to be science as the
 Water Resources Major, |       layman equates incomprehensibility with
     Biology Minor      |       science.                -Unknown
    Uni. of Vermont     |
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[Posted in FML issue 2388]