Dear Ferret Folks-

Tayras? I am intrigued. I went to Katherine's link yesterday and saw a
muscular, handsome looking fellow climbing around in a tree. He had the
head of a predator, all burly muscle attachments for biting behind that
face.I remember thinking "Wouldn't it suck if Caff-Pow could climb
trees. He'd lie in wait like a panther and jump down scratching and
biting like a buzz saw, just for fun. *His* fun." Yes, ferrets in
trees would be ugly. You'd hear dooking, look up, and by then it
would be too late, much too late. Here is Katherine's link from
yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbWm3aD59vk

This suspicion of mine was further strengthened when I found another
Tayra video entitled "Tayras...D*** Tayras." The commentary
accompanying this video reads " Working in d animal park meant me an
Braz had 2 walk this b_stard animal everyday...yep the Tayra..an over
sized weasel...3 can kill a human though...nasty f*****s". It's just
an innocuous video of a curious long-tailed Tayra walking along the
forest floor on a leash.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmx91CNAJek&feature=related

Hardly looks like a dangerous critter, but I give the author and 'Braz'
the benefit of the doubt. I suspect that they know things that we do
not about this animal. Like,what fun it is when one jumps down on your
head out of a tree scratching and biting like a buzz saw, probably just
for fun because it lives in some sort of zoo and it is bored. A bored
weasel is a terrible, terrible thing. We all know this, and we only
have little weasels compared to the statuesque Tayra.

I note that the accompanying text in Katherine's video describes the
Tayra as being a youth in a family group of four. As in...you are
walking along in the rainforests of Costa Rico doing your eco-tourism
thing...how exciting! How National Geographicy! You have your camera
and your binoculars and your hand sanitizer and your new Land's End
clothes and BLAMMO! A bunch of these things things land on you snarling
scratching and biting. Later, your chewed clean bones are sent back
home in a box stuffed with packing peanuts by the Costa Rican
government. The little abounded bottle of hand sanitizer (now well
chewed) lies amongst the leaf litter, and is slowly absorbed into the
forest.

I would urge you not to run out and get a Tayra. Remember when the
videos of the Flying Russian Sables hit the FML and everyone wanted one
for about five minutes, until it became clear that *every* piece of
furniture in the little apartment had been chewed, all the upholstry
was *gone* from the sofas and chairs? And the little things could
clearly make, like, fifteen foot horizontal leaps? And did, non-stop?
Sometimes I wonder what became of that man with the Sables, living in
his tiny Russian apartment as his last shoe was consumed, trapping him
inside with *them?* And they were looking at him *hungrily?* The circle
of Flying Russian Sables surrounding Ivan narrows perceptibly...their
black little eyes glittering...Ivan realizes that he must run for his
life, bare-footed into the cruel blue winter snow...

Tayras...D*** Tayras.

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 7103]