About the ferrets as classroom pets.  I'm a teacher and a ferret owner.
I think that a ferret would be a horrible classroom pet!  From a
teacher's perspective, ferrets are distracting and in need of a great
deal of time-consuming care & attention.  From a ferret owner's
perspective, ferrets need love and individual care and they can be
mishandled by children- particularly 27 excitable kids.
 
I do bring Maggie to school as a reward for my students.  I do this with
extreme caution, however.  First, I send home a note to all parents
describing Maggie's friendly nature & her health condition.  I have also
informed my principal and introduced him to Maggie.  When I bring Maggie
in, I note the areas where she will go unsafely & I block them off,
making the room ferret-proof.  When the children arrive, I keep Maggie
in her cage at first and allow them to peek in.  She usually says hello
to them but I think she's glad she's not out there getting trampled in
the morning rush & excitement.  When all the children have arrived, I
introduce them to Maggie and, when things are very settled, she is
allowed to "run amock" for short time periods during the day.  It is a
great treat for the kids- especially when she does cute things (on one
occasion, she hid inside a car that a child had made for a motion &
design project, it was as though she was driving).  My students love
Maggie.  A year later, several kids come back to see her if they know
she's visiting.  One student even gave me a ferret calendar to post in
my classroom!  Some children just need the cuddle from a cute and
interesting animal.  Maggie makes a good visiting pet, but I feel
strongly that she would not be a good classroom pet!
 
That's my two cents on the issue.  Perhaps if some of you out there are
teachers, you may now consider the fun possibilities of inviting your
ferret to school for a day.  Or if you have a child and his/her teacher
is doing a unit on animal adaptations, you may want to send in a note
mentioning that you have a ferret and would like to bring him/her in
to share with the class.  Many teachers would love this opportunity to
involve a parent & have an interesting animal to use to demonstrate
animal adaptations.
 
Jessica & Maggie
[Posted in FML issue 4258]