Pam,
 
How funny that you would ask about beagles/hunting dogs!  I just adopted a
beagle, Rootie, in December.  He was already grown (we are guess-timating
him to be 2 yrs old).  But were told he had lived with a cat, so we thought
it might be a good match.  Plus he only weighs 15 pounds.
 
I immediately began introducing him to the Herd (4 ferrets).  The two girls
are just a little too small to handle him.  They only weigh about 1lb
(Sandy) and 2lbs (Noel).  So after letting him play with them a bit, I
decided he was too much for them and they no longer interact.
 
As for the boys, Slinky weighs in at about 3-1/2 and Kyle is over 5lbs.
Slinky is alpha ferret and I think this helps him with his interaction w
ith Rootie.
 
Whenever they are together I am in the same room.  I never leave them
unattended.  We go in the bedroom where the ferts can hide under dressers
and such if they feel overwhelmed.  I stay down on the floor and move
around wherever Rootie goes so I can grab him right away if he gets too
rough.  He doesn't try to bite them, he sort of pushes his head into them
and grinds his nose into their bellies.  The biggest trouble is that he
likes to pounce.  He rears up a bit and smacks down on the ferts with his
front paws.  (That's why I feel the girls are too fragile to play with
him).
 
The boys seem to enjoy playing with him.  They peek out of dressers, wait
for him to notice, then run to another dresser and dive underneath.  Slinky
likes to bite Rootie on the legs and ears, and even that doesn't make
Rootie bite back.  In the unusual event that Rootie is actually calm and
lying down, the boys like to climb over and sniff every inch of him.
 
I usually only let it go on for 1/2 hour or so, when the ferrets look like
they've had enough chasing, then I separate them.
 
I honestly would never trust Rootie with them alone.  I make sure their
cages are very securely locked up, and when they're out playing, they are
in a room with gates that Rootie can't get into.
 
I've seen Rootie's hunting instinct take hold outside though, with rabbits
and squirrels and birds, though I've not trained him to hunt.  It is a very
strong instinct, and I think that if you were to train your beagle/hunting
dog to hunt rabbits, you would need to be especially careful with ferret
interaction.
 
=====
Aileen & the Herd minus one Herdling
Slinky, Kyle, Noel, Sandy, & Rootie the beagle
Missing Gizmo so much. We love you, baby.
 
Check out the Herd's website at:
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Zoo/7414/index.html
[Posted in FML issue 3021]