ANTS! i've got 'em, too. someone on one of the message boards sugested cinnamon. it hasn't much deterred the little tiny sugar ants, but the larger ones are gone! i also put grits down (mostly in non-ferrety areas, as i figured a few grits won't hurt a fert, but with my luck, one of mine would eat a whole pile and get ill) as i hear they kill ants. i was pretty surprised when, a day after i unloaded a jar of cinnamon into my crappy old baseboards and along my sliding glass door, the big scary not-fire-ants-but-look-like-fire-ants were all gone. try it, it might work for you. now, i gotta figure out what's safe to use that will repel roachy bugs and *especially* earwigs. *shudder* earwigs are just AWFUL! i get twitchy just thinking about 'em. *************************************** Sean! ferrets can run faster than humans, but only when they *really* dont' want to get caught. ;) serious answers, though todd pretty well covered it in much more entertaining fashion, though: -- a ferret probably could outrun most humans. think about how fast wild weasels and mink can run! granted, most domestic ferrets probably can't clock such speeds, as a result of the many centuries of domestication, but they could probably still do a number on most of us lazy couch potatos! -- one of my boy ferrets has weighed in as light as 1 pound, 13 ounces. he's small. i'm sure there are small boy ferrets that are even littler than that. -- it's not unheard of for female ferrets to weigh less than a pound, and not be underweight. my smallest, i think, last i weighed, was 1 pound 3 ounces. ===== ,',', __ \ `'`,/ \ ()o=; `'`','`/ . \/ / ( / \" / \(_ \(_ ferrets may nip, but people just suck. [Posted in FML issue 3907]