Hiya, dooks, etc.
 
Thought I would drop a note and let you know of a day out today.
 
Three local councils had a pet care day today.  Cats, dogs, rats, guinea
pigs, rabbits, the by laws guys......you get the general idea.
 
Two ferret 'groups' were there as well.  Group A, raced their ferrets
through tubing, and mostly ignored everyone else.  They also had a child
present.....DRAGGING a ferret in harness!!!!!
 
Group B, were slightly more alert, had a few brochures available, but not
a lot.  I asked the young lady present if they were the same group as the
one with same name, that I heard was defunct.  Was told that they NEVER
disbanded, merely changed leaders.  Also enquired about the web page, and
was referred to a young man who quickly disappeared.
 
Also noticed that there were a few ferrets in harness, tied to chairs, very
friendly and easy to stand on!!!!
 
The thing that worries me the most is that the 'ferret-as-pet' is a
relatively new idea in Australia They are expensive at petshops, and the
knowledge as to care seems to be very hard to come by.  Ferret groups are
not listed in the phone book, though ONE is listed in a yellow pages, under
animal welfare.  The regular phone book has a number that is no longer
connected.
 
What qualifications if any, are required to do this sort of work??  Can I,
though not completely 'ferret literate' set myself up as a non-profit
center and rescue/shelter ferrets???
 
Is caring enough???  AND.........do these people do enough to actively get
the information "out there" to all the places we take our babies????
e.g..vets, pet shops, SPACE?????
 
I am expecting to be flamed, but I am more worried that ferrets will suffer
by either ignorance or inaction, and that is something that I am prepared
to stick my 2 cents in for.
 
Also, thank you to all who wrote about my albino query.  The consensus
about numbers varies between 25% and 40% of all ferrets are albino.
Opinion points to them being a valued baby, but being pre disposed to sun
cancers, blindness and burning easily.  It seems they also may lose body
heat quicker, because the coat and skin are so light, and they dehydrate
quite quickly too.
 
The moral is: spoil and love your babies, and the albinos, perhaps need a
little more looking out for.  But they are worth it.
 
Miss two is also quite enamoured with the fert, (Sif), and loves to cuddle,
but we are VERY careful of both the amount of kindness, and the closeness
of Sif to miss 2's face..  We also make sure that Sif has a SECURE place
to be and that she knows this, a place where she is not disturbed by over
zealous children!!!
 
krissy............only a day and a half to the wedding!!!!
Forest Hill, Victoria,
AUSTRALIA
[Posted in FML issue 2974]