I have a few questions that people always ask me that I'm never sure of
the answer and maybe someone can help me out....
 
Does anyone know the average lifespan of a ferret?
 
[As a pet, 8-10 years]
 
How much does a female normally weigh?
 
[1-3 lbs.  Ours have both been in the 1 1/2 lb range]
 
What is the reason that they are not legal in certain states?
 
[Because they're nasty dangerous weaselly little wild animals that'll
escape to multiply in the wild, kill off everybody's sheep, eat babies
and carry rabies.  (or, is that eat rabies and carry babies? Doesn't matter ;-)
 
Seriously, because:
    1) Ferrets are wild animals that shouldn't be kept as pets.
       Wrong.  Ferrets are the domestic descendants of wild animals.
       Ferrets have been domesticated for at least 3000 years.
    2) Ferrets are dangerous animals that'll bite anybody who comes close.
       Wrong.  Ferrets raised as pets are very gentle - ours have never
       bitten anyone.  Statistics bear this out: of every million
       pet dogs, approximately 500 serious or fatal injuries to people
       occur *per* *year*.  In contrast, the rate for ferrets is something
       like .5 occurance per million pet ferrets per year (estimates place
       the US population of pet ferrets at approximately 5 million).
    3) Ferrets carry rabies.  Wrong: ferrets are susceptible to rabies
       just like any other animal, and will show the symptoms like any
       other animal.  (it's just that the USDA doesn't officially recognize
       this yet)
    4) The rabies vaccine won't work with ferrets.  Wrong.  Standard rabies
       vaccines have been USDA approved for ferrets.  (There was insufficient
       interest until recently on formally approving the vaccine for ferrets.
       It worked, it was simply not yet proven to the USDA's satisfaction)
    5) Escaped ferrets will multiply, displace indigenous species and pose
       a hazard to farm stock (eg: poultry).  Wrong.  Ferrets cannot survive
       on their own in the wild.  There are NO, repeat NO, ferret populations
       in the wild.
    6) Ferrets are an endangered species.  Believe it or not, one account
       I read claimed that they were Black-footed Ferrets (<500 left).
       Some people will believe anything....
]
 
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Stay tuned, an important bulletin is following shortly....
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[Posted in FML 0116]