I had an interesting email from a farmer who grows vegetables in greenhouses. He has always experienced problems from rats getting in his greenhouses and seriously damaging the vegetables. He asked what I thought of the possibility of using ferrets to keep the rats out of the greenhouse. He had thought of getting a Rat Terrier, but feared the damage that the dog might cause would be greater than that from the rats. Frankly, it was the first time I've ever received a question on that subject and was really pondering what my response should be. My first concern was the possible heat in the greenhouse (could introduce the ferret at dusk and retrieve at dawn); then, if the ferret would be able to handle a full grown rat (unaltered males might be big enough, I'm not sure). Other than that, I'm at a loss as to whether the idea would be practical. I am asking for your thoughts on the subject, especially from those in the UK where ferrets are more often used as working animals than here in the US. I'll summarize the responses and forward them to the greenhouse owner. Who knows, maybe we can find a reason for the agricultural interests in California to support legalization <G>. Dick B. [Posted in FML issue 3356]