Happy New Year to all and your furkids.

Ferrets are on the cover of the Dec. 23-30 issue of British magazine
New Scientist with cover line "Party Ferrets to the Rescue." Great
photos on cover and inside. A neurophysiologist at Oxford U did a study
with ferrets (then humans) about how the brain localizes sound. It
leads with, "Crowded bars and noisy parties are no fun if you have a
hearing problem. Maybe the ferrets can help." Another quote I like,
"Although ferrets don't spend much time at cocktail parties, they need
to be able to localise sounds to catch prey, find mates and avoid
danger. As a species they are intelligent and easy to train, so they
make the perfect subjects for behavioural experiments."

Intelligent, yes. Easy to train? I don't know. I think it's easier for
them to train us!

Check it out if you are interested in the study. I don't know if you
can read it online (or see the photos) but the website is
www.newscientist.com
A friend gave me the magazine

I get the impression that, in general, Brits are more fond of ferrets
than Americans (not including us ferret fans). They seem to be more
familiar with them because they still have "working" ferrets. Our
ferrets make us do all the work! LOL

Dooks,
Shron & Rocky --"I want a cocktail like those ferrets in the picture."

[Posted in FML 5482]