Here I go again, getting on my soapbox.
 
Ed Lipinski talked about the situation he encountered with two ferrets
that needed to be removed from their home because of a baby and placed
into another. Then he wondered about ferrets' domestication.
 
I now have FIRST-HAND experience with babies and ferrets.  What REALLY bugs
me are the people who have ferrets, then decide to have children and listen
to so much OH/CA-type propaganda about the "evil face-eating rodents" that
ferrets become around infants, that they get rid of their ferrets.  Makes
*ME* wonder what type of parents they'll make that they can just "get rid"
of warm-blooded creatures they consider a "problem." (And let me just state
here that I'm sure there are actually some situations where the ferret(s)
really *do* need to be removed, but those probably are [or should be] few
and far between.)
 
ANY ENCOUNTER WITH ****ANY**** ANIMAL AND ****ANY**** INFANT MUST BE CLOSELY
SUPERVISED AT ALL TIMES -- NO EXCEPTIONS EVER!!!!  I don't care whether it's
cat, dog, rabbit, ferret, gerbil, bird, etc.  There is simply NO WAY to
trust either the baby OR the animal.  I trust my daughter LESS than the
ferrets at this point -- she just turned 11 months and while they're used to
her and basically ignore her, she's just finds them fascinating and chases
them around.
 
While I agree that high-pitched sounds can bother some ferrets, I agree
with Bob C.'s post -- could it be a maternal instinct?  I've had all the
ferrets approach me when we were letting Sarah cry herself to sleep --
they seemed to be concerned that she was crying and we did nothing about
it.  And the one female who is REALLY bothered by squeak toys was never
bothered by Sarah's newborn cries.  None of the other ferrets seemed to be
bothered by her cries.  But they did certainly seem to be bothered by the
smell of formula, and baby cookies, and juice.
 
Ferrets in the US are domesticated.  Period.  Please do NOT speculate on
this publicly when we're fighting so hard to get them legalized in CA, and
in light of the bad publicity they seem to keep getting.  I know there are
other FMLers out there with children who have also successfully raised kids
with ferrets.  It's not impossible.
 
<off soapbox>
 
Okay, I know I did some shouting, but ferrets are NOT disposable pets.  I
wish people would THINK a little more and make an EFFORT to work things
out instead of relying on shelters or other people to "get rid" of their
"problems."
 
Amy, Dave & Sarah (and their gaggle of giggling ferrets)
RIP Ian and Elektra
[Posted in FML issue 2256]