Channel surfing last night I came across Ben Stiller on Jay Leno. I wish I had the foresight to click the VCR on record but didnt. Anyway he was very negative about ferrets. He compared them to rats wrapped in a mink stole. He said he was holding the ferret with both hands (ferret facing out from his demonstration)and it twisted around and bit him on the chin. He said he had a root canal earlier in the day and his face was not feeling too good. He said they (ferrets) were illegal in California and understood with Arnold in office there was talk going on. He said he was going to ask for a sit down with him to change his mind. He also said he wasnt afraid of the pro-ferret people. Keep in mind this is not word for word but what I can remember BUT there was no mistaking his attitude and ignorance. I realize he is entitled to his opinion but I think he did a diservice to ferrets everywhere. I dont know what damage he caused. When people dont know much about something they tend to only speak negatively. I know this myself from talking with people I meet about my ferrets--good example is in the waiting room at the vets........"oh ferrets they stink don't they?"...........or "ferrets? Dont they bite all the time?" It is real aggravating. Its a shame we cant have some rebuttal going on with Jay Leno. I dont even know if legally ferrets could be on there. The erroneous publicity pisses me off. In my area NBC runs Jay Leno repeats from the week before at 2:05am-3:04am. So I think it will be repeating next Monday night --I am not sure however. Oddly Jennifer Aniston was on Jay Leno last week and didnt say one foul word about the furballs when talking about the movie. Rita B. [Posted in FML issue 4392]