harnesses - I really like figure 8 harnesses and urge you to try them if you
take your ferret out a lot.  I use the kind that are a 1 cm wide strip of
leather.  I have found this kind of harness difficult to find nowadays.  I
take Dors and Seldon out twice a week for long walks and Dors in particular
wears this harness well during the walk.  They do not escape because I used
the next tighter hole every time it didn't work until it did work.  I also
suggest heavy duty ball chain collars.
 
Ed - I have noticed that my friend Ed Lipinksi keeps ruffling a lot of
feathers on the list here.  I have known Ed for years; he comes off much
better in person than he sometimes does in e-mail.  He cares a great deal
for his ferrets and has singlehandedly done much to raise awareness of
ferrets in the Seattle area, plus taking in ferrets (in the role of
shelter).  He's certainly a bit eccentric.  I think that, in contrast to the
way he speaks, he tends to use unfortunate words and images that inflame and
that leave his intentions open to interpretation.  It's unfortunate that he
chose the words "real"/"superior" and "sissy"/"inferior"; I don't believe
he's turning Nazi on us (I hope not!).  Perhaps he'd do better to use
"Lipinksi approach" or "FNW approach" to describe his practices.  As far as
I know, he doesn't torture his ferrets, and I love to listen to him talking
to them.  I hope he himself will be as tolerant in writing as he is in
person.
 
I will say I love pampering Dors and Seldon, though I try to get some
traditional/ancestral activities into their schedule.  "Hey Dors, want to go
hunt some *rabbits*!?  Uhhh, maybe after I finish this really good dream,
or, hey, could I have a massage first??"
 
The British people are at times critical of the way we do things here in
America (and there is some truth in what they say), and I think of Ed as a
similar (though different) perspective.  I'm really looking forward to
meeting the wise Ms. Crompton someday for a second time and getting more of
her perspective.  Regarding Ed, he has some very good points to make, such
as ferrets loving to dig and rough-house.  I don't think he produces that
many litters a year, at any rate, my sample of 1 ferret he has bred is a
beautiful, joyous, and perfect ferret (not saying that other approaches
couldn't produce the same), and her father was the same way, apparently one
of Ed's best breeding stock.
 
My position is that we need all to make up our own opinions, and we needn't
condone absolutely everything each other does, but that does not have to
make us mortal enemies.  We're all basically on the same side, and if you
want enemies, please consider helping Jeanne Carley et al in California
(it's just as far away from you as Seattle, probably), or writing a letter
to the council in Kalamazoo or the folks in Queensland, or consider helping
the shelters in your area or helping to educate people on proper care.
 
I'm not trying to say that all opinions are equally valid and no one should
judge, but instead that our differences are usually small compared to
differences with our true enemies and the (!@#$) evil of people putting
ferrets to die in a cold park in New Hampshire.
 
Todd Cromwell III Dors and Seldon
[Posted in FML issue 2147]