The excellent book _Training Your Pet Ferret_ (Gerry Bucsis and Barbara Somerville) recommends the use of scat mats to train ferrets away from no-no spaces, and particularly things like Christmas trees. While this does not seem like an inhumane training device (allegedly, it merely produces a tingle), I haven't seen scat mats recommended in any of the other ferret books I have. So I was hoping to first, get a second opinion from a few sensible heads in this forum. Would you recommend the use of a scat mat, and why or why not? Second, if scat mats are approved of, what stores if any around the Stirling/Herndon or even general Washington DC vicinity can be relied upon for a good, quality selection with a sensible price. Thanks in advance, Jaime [Posted in FML issue 3245]