Just a couple days ago I had the pleasure (I must be cruel) of seeing an
unknowledgable pet store clerk completely "freak" when the kit I asked to
see came out of the cage "dead".  I will admit that at first I didn't
realise what her problem was, I just took the kit from her and started to
cuddle and say stuff like "Ooohh, cute little dead ferret".  She looked at
me as if I had just escaped my keeper.  After a little bit, the kit roused
itself while I calmed the clerk by explaining the "dead ferret syndrome".
I hope this will prompt her to do a little reading.
 
I wonder if any of the good ferret books out there cover this.
 
I'm sure most ferret people will never forget their first dose.  I think the
little buggers do it on purpose.  It is their job to keep us on our toes.
 
Dennis Miller Live made a small mention of ferrets.  The show topic was
about the fear of flying.  Dennis miller likened himself on a plane to that
of "digging at the window like a ferret in an aquarium".  I didn't really
care much for the linkage of ferrets and fish tanks.  Oh, well...
 
My DEW "Chinook" refuses to mix with the rest of the crew.  I've decided to
stop the effort for now as the stress was beginning to show in the behavior
of my established group.  They wouldn't even "pack-rat" their food outside
of the cages.  You know it's a problem when it's play time and 3/4 of the
group has to be removed from the cages by force.  I haven't given up, we're
just going to take a bit of a break for now.
 
Skunks as pets (BIG, I don't know if this is within guidelines.  If it's not
feel free to delete).  I read a very good article several years ago, written
by a ferret owner.  I believe it was published in "Modern Ferret", but I may
be mistaken.  This woman had begun a search (in the late 70's I believe) for
a different type pet which suited her lifestyle better than the conventional
cat or dog.  Her first attempt was the skunk.  Later she had heard of the
ferret, and got one (she still kept the skunk).  Please realise, this was
some time ago and I'm a bit vague on the exact content.  She did do a
comparison of the two pets and they weren't very similar in behavior.  For
ferret people who may think a pet skunk is just like a "politically correct"
large ferret, you may want to do some research prior to purchasing $50.00
worth of educational and testing literature.  I will try to dig up the
article I read, as it pertains to ferrets I'm sure I kept it... where is the
question.
 
SP
 
[Moderator's note: Kinda have to take the non-ferret mustelidae posts on a
case-by-case basis.  Within reason, comparing their characteristics to
ferrets' is fine.  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 2270]