Hi,
 
Just caught Martha Stewart's segment on Ferrets, featuring Mark Marrone,
who Long Islanders will recognize as that guy with all the animals running
around together on his mostly cable show..
 
It was an extremely positive segment!  It briefly tackled most of the
misconceptions about ferrets, notably the smell thing - neat freak Martha
said she "didn't smell a thing".  It showed some of the basics you need to
keep a ferret (though the cage they showed was small it seemed to me - no
doubt there were size limitations fitting it on the set).  It mentioned the
shots you need to give, their special diet needs, how they use a corner to
poop so you need to put litter boxes there, etc.  It also mentioned there
are ferret shelters across the country that you can adopt ferrets from
(that it a very good thing in my opinion).  Mark said ferrets were his
favorite pets, which is pretty amazing since he is known to have experience
with most kinds you can think of.  The ferrets were all Path Valley
ferrets, except for one Angora.  How cute!  About 14 ferrets running around
together, many babies plus Mark's ferret.
 
The only thing that bothered me is that they didn't stress that you need
to spend time with your ferret.  Perhaps they assume if you buy a ferret
you'll pay attention to it, which to me is a bit naive (else we wouldn't
NEED all the shelters).  I am a bit concerned that you'll see a bunch of
folks run out to buy ferrets from the segment, and some might not realize
that they require some work too (like most pets do).
 
Ironic, I was home sick today and I get to see ferrets (I can't see ours
right now, they're at Paula's apartment, and I might be contagious)..
 
- Mike
Mike, Paula, Buddy, Dickens, Daisy, Sweet Pea, and Winter
 
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[Posted in FML issue 2964]