Hi all!
Hope this finds everyone's ferrets doing well! I am behind again (as
always) and am putting my responses together:
Beach baby ferrets: I have lived on the Chesapeake Bay for 6 years, and take
ALL of my ferrets to the beach.They play in the sand & surf, and I haven't
ever had a problem with them getting sick afterward. I recommend it as long
as you prepare for the outing as if you had a toddler or infant - food,
water, something to keep the ferrets cool, a couple of towels, etc... I
also only do this in the early summer/late fall and only in the morning or
at dusk.
Free roaming ferrets - all of mine roam freely around the house in turns
while I am away. My house is pretty well ferret proofed, or at least I
think it is - 6 years here with 75 -100 ferrets a year going thru and no one
has gotten stuck or out, so I feel pretty safe. I do agree though, that it
is not for everyone! I poop patrol daily to get the misses! I also have
planned for what to do in emergencies. I know where all of my ferrets
sleep, I have carriers premade and ready (that includes food in a bag and
watter in a bottle inside each carrier). I have rope premeasured for
lowering cages down (on 3rd floor). I have also made the committment that I
will not leave until all of my ferrets are safely out! But I also enjoy
having the ferrets underfoot while I go about my day - they bring me such
joy that I want them around all of the time.
An interesting newspaper article got my attention a couple days ago - it
seems that the CDC is reporting that dog bites requiring medical attention
are up 37 % between 1986 and 1994, partly because people are buying more
ferocious dogs (their words) for protection. Rottweilers were responsible
for 10 deaths, almost half the 22 dog bite deaths reported where the breed
was known. The CDC said that 800,000 people had to seek medical care in
1994, up from 585,000 in 1986. Now a direct quote!!! "That means that
every 40 SECONDS, somebody is seeing a doctor because of a dog bite," said
Dr. Jeffery Sacks, a CDC epidemiologist. "I'd call that worthy of more
attention." Does anyone else see the irony in this?????
Good Luck to Kodo, my ferrets are praying for a sane person to overturn this
idiotic ruling!
Happy Ferreting!
Lisa
[Posted in FML issue 1955]
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