Hey all!
I have been reading with some interest the posts about people who have
ferrets and young children, and I just wanted to add our experiences to
the mix.
 
We have an 11 month old daughter, and four ferrets whom we have had since
before our daughter was born.  Our ferrets are free roaming fellows, and
always have been.  When our daughter was born, we decided to let the boys
all remain free roaming and see how everything went, because they are all
very sweet, very friendly little guys.
 
Well, I am very happy to say that now our daughter is 11 months old, and
she and the ferrets get along just fine!  We of course, never leave them
unsupervised, but not once have any of the boys ever tried to bite her,
(although they do have a thing for stealing her pacifier, and licking her
feet while she is asleep)we also don't allow her to pull thier fur, or
step on them, anything like that.  They do play together, and quite seem
to enjoy each others company.
 
Personally, I think it greatly depends on the parents, child, and ferrets
involved.  Our ferrets have been taught not to bite, and our daughter has
been taught not to hurt them inj return, and of course, as I said before,
they are never left unsupervised.
 
All in all though, I would have to say that in our experience,yes, ferrets
and small children can and do work out very well together, it's just kind
of a case-by-case basis!
 
:-)
Yvonne
[Posted in FML issue 3755]