>From:    Michelle Phillips <[log in to unmask]>
>... I found a lovely female who crawled out onto my arm to be loved on, and
>after a minute she promptly bit my wrist and would not let go untill the pet
>store owner thumped her on the head.  I felt sorry for her, but I will not
>have a mean ferret.  All the boys that I have looked at have been playfull
>and well behaved.  So are all girls mean?
 
No, they are not all mean.  I believe it might be generally true that
females tend to have more of an "attitude", shall we say.  But I have an
absolutely sweet little girl who gives kisses and never bites me.  Which is
not to say that she's never nipped.  By "bite" I mean sinking in the teeth
in order to do damage.  Her nips are usually of the "lick-lick-lick-chomp"
variety which many FML members will recognize.  It's usually assumed to be a
sign of affection.  But she doesn't even do that very often.
 
Some folks noted once upon a time that certain ferrets were designated
"mother biters" meaning that they only bit the person's mother when she came
to visit, and usually only on the wrist.  It turned out that the ferrets
were reacting to the perfume which these women wear wearing and had dabbed
on their wrists.  This in fact happened to my mother.  Any chance you were
wearing perfume that day in the store?
 
Even if you weren't, it doesn't necessarily mean that the ferret had a mean
streak.  If she came to you to be loved on, maybe she just wanted to take
you back to the cage with her :)
 
Look around some more and handle a lot of ferrets.  It shouldn't be hard to
find a nice female ferret.  You can't judge them all based on only one or
two individuals.  Good luck!
 
Karen
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And now abideth faith, hope, love,
these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
                          -- I Corinthians 13:13
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If you love ferrets, check out:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~crassi/index.html
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[Posted in FML issue 2126]