Hi FMLers, I've been absent for a couple weeks...lots to do, so little time...we flew to Florida this weekend to watch my brother graduate from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. He's a marine biologist now, a science genius (which impresses me 'cause I struggled through calculus and never took even basic chemistry). Cried when he walked across the stage, so handsome in his green cap and gown. Here's a recent experience I wanted to share with all. Besides being a ferrety story, for me this underscores the importance of being educated, and the importance of educating the public: I work at a small liberal arts college. Several weeks ago, a student was waiting to see the dean. He is an "older" student, unusual at our school because we generally have only younger undergrads. Kids don't usually leave for more than a year or two. This particular student was supposed to graduate in '96 but left after one year and just came back this semester. So he's closer to my age (27) than to the sophomores (18-19). Back in February the student newspaper interviewed me for a piece on ferrets. Besides making a point of mentioning that ferrets aren't an appropriate "dorm" pet, I expounded on the joys of having ferrets and the funny, lovable things they do. The student newspaper ended up running a fairly long article that resulted in several students getting involved and helping us with an event. It was a good piece. Anyway, this guy (who I don't actually like very much because he is kind of smirky and smarmy every time I've seen him) turned to me and said, "I've been meaning to write a rebuttal to that ferret article you wrote. I gave him a rather cold stare. "I didn't write it, a student did," I said somewhat frostily. I have to be nice to students as a rule, but I didn't care for his tone or his smirk. He put up his hands in mock protest and snickered a little. My co-worker said "Don't bash ferrets in front of Heather," in a joking tone, but she was serious - she knows how I feel about small fuzzy people. "Well," he said, "as a resident of New Hampshire, I really think I ought to correct a lot of what you said about ferrets. They're not the cute and cuddly little things you made them out to be." Raised eyebrow on my part, atmosphere in the room dropped about 20 degrees. "Oh?" I asked. "What are they really like?" "Have you ever seen a fisher cat?" he asked knowingly. I couldn't begin to figure out where he was going with this. "Yes, I have," I answered. "Where?" he challenged, obviously not believing me. "There's one in my neighborhood," I answered (there is). "I've seen it by the lake shore, and in a tree. I've also seen them on TV. "Well," he lectured, "the fisher cat is a very close relative of the ferret." I corrected him, "No, actually, it's about the same relationship that a domesticated housecat has to a mountain lion." He wasn't buying it. "It's a VERY close relative," he argued. "They have the same disposition - nasty!" I was getting quite argumentative. "Have you ever actually SEEN a ferret?" I asked. With all his talk about fisher cats I was starting to wonder if he even knew what animal he was talking about. He became immediately defensive. "I've seen hundreds!" "Where?" I persisted. "Where have you seen these hundeds of ferrets?" "I come from New Hampshire," he said loftily. "We have ferrets running around everywhere in the wild." "Umm," I said, trying hard not to laugh right out loud in his know-it-all face, "I think you're seeing weasels or ermines. Ferrets don't run loose in the wild all across New Hampshire." The dean came out at that moment and called him in, but from the look on his face and his smug smirk, I could tell that he firmly believed that I was the uneducated one. After I got through picturing myself ramming his head into a fisher cat's mouth, I reflected for awhile on the importance of educating the public at large about ferrets. I thought of all the people who might hear about ferrets from someone like this guy FIRST, and believe every smug, misinformed word this cretin (and those like him) spit out. I've been told on several occasions, "Oh, we have ferrets in our woods," and not everyone believes me when I say, "That was probably a weasel." They say, "Oh, no, we've had ferrets in our woods for years. They turn white in the winter." SIGH!! Let's remember to educate, wherever we go, whoever we are. Let's get to the public before people like this do! -Heather W. in Massachusetts Wondering if the neighborhood fisher cat would like an "uneducated" snack! (Hey Alicia, go round up those hundreds of wild ferrets in NH, will ya??) [Posted in FML issue 3790]