Wolfy- Well, you haven't made an enemy with me! Ferrets are NOT for everyone. It takes a very special person to laugh when the ferret has knocked over a cup of water on your dining room table for the third time that morning. And you can't be squeamish about picking up poop...and cleaning off fear poops from a ferret if a tussle get's too intense...or cleaning poop off your shoe (or foot) if you stepped in it because one of your babies decided the middle of the room was a good place to go...or cleaning dried poop off a sick ferret because he couldn't stay out of it in the box.... And did I mention poop? And don't get me started on vet bills, and ferrets that can fit into a 1" hole and get their heads caught. LOL Childproofing is easy compared to ferretproofing. You have to be the kind of person who says to herself--well it's my fault--I shouldn't have left the water where he could knock it over. I used to highly recommend ferrets to other people.... Now I cautiously say--"Well, I LOVE them--I have eight. But they're really not for everyone." And I go through the same type of information sharing that you do. I would rather have a person decide that ferrets are not for them than to have a poor ferret end up in a shelter, or even worse, abandoned because the person bought the wrong pet. I do however strongly defend them when I hear generalizations like "They bite, don't they?" I point out that they are like puppies or kittens that need to be taught their manners, and they are'nt any meaner than any young animal. Melodyt and the elven eight [Posted in FML issue 4706]