PROTECTION AFFORDED FERRETS by GROUND FAULT INTERRUPTERS.
 
GFI (if it has a three letter name is's OK to talk about on the computer,
right ?  )
 
What they DO and DO NOT do....
 
They DO interrupt the power source if the slightest trickle of current flows
from the wiring or connected device into GROUND, i.e. the earth, so as to
prevent injury to persons who come in contact with (especially) faulty power
tools or devices where the metal casing has become shorted to one of the
power wires...
 
They DO NOT interrupt the power source even if huge currents flow from one
of the two wires to the other, i.e. through the CIRCUIT, which is what
cooks your toast, runs your motor, or injures your ferret.
 
They DO NOT insure the safety of your ferret, except in the SINGULAR CASE
where the ferret is on a good conductive surface and bites the correct one
of the two or more wires.
 
If a ferret 'becomes somehow connnected' BETWEEN the two wires, a bad shock
or burn may result.  No GFI can prevent the delivery of power through the
electrical circuit... both wires... thats what 'circuit' means.  Real power
is ALWAYS available around the 'circuit' and a GFI cannot interfere with
that, else NOTHING electrical would work.
 
Another REAL danger is that of FIRE resulting from damage to the wires!  A
covering over the wiring is the best protection.
 
Thanks to Rudy Ferlosopher for all the great input in the past...  and with
all respect, this is the real truth on the GFI.
 
Best regards,  Bob Martin
    above based on spending 40 years in electrical engineering and
    being a member of the G.E. Corporate Research and Developement team
    which developed the custom I.C. used in the original GFI
 
[Moderator's note: All true, except that the flow of current through your
poor ferret to ground is what causes the fatalities.  A ferret completing a
circuit between two wires with its jaw will burn its mouth, but will not be
killed since the electricity would only damage the tiny area it flows
through.  It's the electricity flowing THROUGH the the ferret, such as from
mouth to paw, which is fatal and that is *exactly* the thing that a GFI
(actually, now the common term is GFCI) will prevent.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 1485]