In case they might transport some of the poison feed your ferret in the cage and if necessary also cover the cage with window screening. Find out what TYPE of poison is being used and discuss it with your vet and with one of the animal poison control places (which charge per case rather than per call): ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center's emergency hotline at 1-888-426-4435 Angell Memorial Animal Medical Center Pet Poison Hotline 1-877-2ANGELL (1-877-226-4355) Get Havaheart traps. You will also be interested in zoonotic diseases that ferrets or humans can get from mice. Ferrets can get a few; humans can get more. Here are ways to start learning: http://www.anapsid.org/chomel.html (but the CDC rabies sentence is not right as of the last time I spoke with Dr. Charles Rupprecht who heads the CDC's rabies division) http://omni.ucsb.edu/connect/acc/policy.html%23Rodentia http://www.postgradmed.com/issues/2001/07_01/morrison.htm Among humans about 60% of the diseases we get can also be zoonotic; with rodents a (the?) real biggie as a single Order vector, which is not a surprise taxonomically. There are few ferret-human zoonoses compared to a many other domestic pets. (Having had a British grandma the word "pet" for me goes back to its English use as someone -- human or animal -- whom one loves and cuddles.) Here are fine reference sites for FML members, some not on the http://www.ferretcongress.org site because I simply have lacked time. (The last few months saw three deaths in my side of the family and more things that require me or unavoidably takes time from me so I have been very busy and very distracted and have to get back to several projects once things slow down which looks like it won't be for at least a few months.) http://www.vetsoftware.com/acvc2002-hess2.htm http://www.vspn.org/LIBRARY/WWWDirectory/Mammals_Small_Exotic.htm http://www.aemv.org http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/ssclinic/index.htm appears to still be under construction but it will be exotic pathology; currently reference ranges are included http://www.vet.uga.edu/ivcvm/1999/PAPERS.htm (This one is old so I hope the internet veterinary conference resume.) http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/specrad/radiology/entrance.html exotics radiology http://sacs.vetmed.ufl.edu/notes.htm veterinary class lectures but requires Internet Exploder -- opps, Explorer -- Sukie (not a vet) Ferret Health List co-moderator http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth FHL Archives fan http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ replacing http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org International Ferret Congress advisor http://www.ferretcongress.org A MUST SEE FROM 1946: http://www.archive.org/details/Despotis1946 [Posted in FML issue 5137]