Hey all.  Here's my thought on "ferret legging." I, too, read the article.
Actually, it's been months ago and I ran into it by browsing under
"ferrets." I went to Ferret Central or Ferret World or one of the "bigger"
pages on ferrets and there was a link to it.  I believe they preface the
link with a disclaimer about it being funny but perhaps not for the easily
offended or something like that (it's been a while!).  The article was a bit
overdone, but on the whole I thought it was kinda amusing.  I don't think it
was meant to be taken seriously.  Or, if it was, just ignore it.  In fact, I
related what I remembered of the article to my dad two weeks ago when I was
in San Antonio visiting and he went to the vet with me when I took Edie.
Edie got scared while we were in the little vet room, waiting for Dr. Gates
and she ran to my dad, popped her head into his pants leg, and proceeded to
run up his pants until she got to the knee and couldn't go any farther.  She
curled up in a ball right under his knee (he was standing) inside his jeans
and wouldn't come out.  Poor little thing never really goes to the vet
except for shots, and she was terrified!
 
And if you think about it, there might be people strange enough to do
something like ferret legging.  (I won't go into detail about people's weird
fetishes, but you can find enough of them to make yourself sick on the
internet if you want to).  Ferrets do bite, and even though MY ferrets don't
bite, I don't make the mistake of assuming everyone else's don't.  It's like
any strange animal, you don't approach it without either asking about its
temperment or taking a risk.  I got bit pretty good the other day by a
recently rescued ferret and I couldn't get my hand out of her mouth until
she decided to let go because I thought she was mine and when I reached for
her she was under a low, heavy piece of furniture.  I don't blame her.
She's not really used to all the new people and things she's been exposed to
recently and I intruded upon her "safe spot." My bad.  Instead of covering
up the faults of our little ones, we need to teach people about the pros and
cons of ferrets so they make an educated decision when they get one.  They
might get one that bites, and they need to know that they can be reformed
for the most part.  If someone is worried about ferret's biting, I tell them
it takes time, love, and that it would be better to get a male ferret
because if they are nippy they seem to draw blood less frequently.  I've
only had 2 serious bites and they were both from recently "discarded" (given
to shelters) females.  I don't hold it against them.  My point (Finally, and
just my opinion)...laugh about the ferret legging or don't read it.  I guess
I'm not easily offended by these things, but I know that not everyone is
going to love ferrets and I'm not going to try to change their mind.  I just
want enough people to understand them that they'll be legalized.  If there
are over 4 million dog bites per year, a few scared ferrets biting still
isn't a big deal...and people masochistic enough to stick a scared ferret
down their pants deserves what they (theoretically) get.
 
Okay, I know, I'm sorry the post is long.  Please don't flame me.  We just
need to make sure for every bad thing circulating about ferrets, we try to
spread some good news, too.  By the way... has anyone seen the Ferret
Bender's page?  I don't remember the URL, but the Ferret Lager logo is
priceless!  I want to email this person but can't access their address...
does anyone know who drew the logo and if it's really a beer somewhere?  I
would like to see more of the artist's work.
 
I'll probably try to keep my nose in my own business this week (end o'
semester and all that) so I just want to say that I hope everyone has a
great Thanksgiving and gets to spend lots of quality time with their family
and ferrets!
 
(the opinions expressed aren't necessarily the opinions of anyone else in
the world).  If you'd like to discuss privately these things, feel free to
email me.
 
                                   --->Kelly
 |\__\           /__/|          Head of Animal Optometry
 |  o o         o o  |          "Damn you, Let the Rabbits wear glasses"
/    =p=     =q=   \          University of Houston
     |              |
Reverend Maynard: "I'm not looking at you."  Edie: "Snore, squeak."
** "A man talking sense to himself is no madder than a man talking nonsense
not to himself." **
      (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead)
[Posted in FML issue 1764]