This is by no means a scientific fact, but is a very strong observation
about the strength of a ferret's jaw. Several years ago, (I think it
was from the DMK rescue), we took in a very large breeder male. He
weighed over 4 pounds, and he was as solid as a rock. He obviously had
never been handled, other than to be shoved into a cage to take care of
business. He was most definitely a biter. We named him Sauron, because
he definitely seemed like an evil warlord.

Gail and I were trying to clip his nails - I was scruffing and she was
clipping. We got his front feet done, and then he thrashed so hard he
pulled out of my scruff.

Stupid us did not listen to what he was saying. He was clearly saying,
"I am done with this for now", but we failed to heed that message. I
scruffed him again and Gail started on his back feet. He thrashed again
and somehow latched on to her little finger, right across the middle
knuckle, all the way into the back of his mouth, and he didn't let go.
I did the "thumb and pointer finger pinch" at the back of his jaw to
get him to open his mouth. That has always worked for me
(unfortunately, I have had to do it a number of times over the years),
but this time, Sauron quickly opened his mouth, then snapped it shut
again. He now not only had Gail's little finger in his mouth, but had
also caught both my thumb and pointer finger in his teeth. By the time
I finally was able to get him to release Gail's finger (and all of
mine), I was bleeding from eight fingers! I put him in his cage, and
he quickly settled down

That episode taught me a lesson that I will never forget. When a ferret
says he is done, listen to him. You can always finish clipping nails
later. Eventually, Sauron learned to trust people, and became quite
sweet. He never had any additional severe bites. We never adopted him
out, because there was always that memory and the fear that something
might trigger him again. It was very sad watching age wither that
magnificent body. Eventually, we lost him.

For those of you who don't know Gail, she is very thin, and her fingers
are extremely slender, especially her little finger. It may have been
broken, but she would not go to the emergency room, but it was clearly
not torn off. I had a lot of punctures, but no torn flesh. I realize
that an adult finger has got to be stronger than an infant's, but you
also have to consider the scale of this ferret. This guy was huge, and
he was solid muscle. His bites were defensive - he did not like what
was being done to him, and he was not going to put up with it. He was
not trying to eat her finger.

We have two mink, and they eat chicks or mice. They have no problem at
all crunching through those tiny bones. Sometimes, we give a chick or
a mouse to some of the ferrets, and they either eat the whole thing or,
as is the case for most of our ferrets, none of it at all. Even though
I have watched ferrets crunch through a chick, I simply cannot imagine
a ferret biting off and eating a baby's finger, let alone, seven of
them.

The blame for this tragedy clearly lies squarely on the parents. The
latest piece of news where the lawyer is trying to blame Petco is
simply ludicrous. In my opinion, lawyers are the scourge of our
society. They will say or do anything to deflect blame from their
clients. I wish there was some sort of penalty that they would have
to pay when they come up with something so idiotic!.

Back to the original topic, this is certainly not scientific evidence,
but if a massive, extremely muscular ferret like Sauron does not tear
off a finger, is it likely that a pet store ferret could do it? I don't
think so.

Larry Anderson

Scales and Tails Rescue

[Posted in FML 6947]