Sue asked a very difficult and painful question: >I have to step up and say something here. David has had a number of >"Vinnie da Rat" ferrets, and I have seen a number of posts over the >years of David loosing his ferrets. I know it is not kind to judge >people, but I just have to ask the question. Is Mr Owings meant to be >a ferret daddy? For the record: in 25 years with ferrets we have once thought that we had an escape. (Luckily, he was only playing mobile hide and seek.) This is mentioned because David seems to assume the escapes are common. Does that mean that we will never have an escape? Of course not. (We have been lucky, but we have greatly helped our luck with a lot of ferret proofing.) Does it mean that ferret proofing is possible, even when one family member was for a few years too mobility handicapped to go over a barrier, in brace for 18 months, with a cane for a decent while, and for a number of months barely able to walk from one room to another? You bet it does. We were even prepared to put sequential half doors on hinges in the hall and at the edge of our entranceway, but luckily did not need to. There are ferret proofing tips for all sort of needs in the FML Archives. They make for a LOT of reading but they are worth it. The FML Archives can be found by looking in the header of any day's FML. Multiple reported escapes at one home over less than a 4 year period is cause for justifiable concern on the list, I think, but it sure is painful and frustrating for all, from David through to those reading. I think that a better mode of interaction on the list would be to have an on-going, long term Q and A about ferret proofing. It would save so many ferrets everywhere. HOW ABOUT IT? WHO WANTS TO POST FAVORITE FERRET PROOFING TIPS? Meanwhile: Have a Heart traps, letting all who might become involved locally know, and seeing what area ferret clubs or humane societies may be able to help. Ditto friends, neighbors, and relations. There may be a local youth service club (4H or Scouts) with members willing to become involved if you have proof of timely rabies vaccines. See, too, about going there yourself during some of the times when the Visiting Nurse Society, or County Nurse, or applicable health society spell you with your brother's care. If you are not on a list for that help ask your brother's physician's office to make the calls. If Vinnie is not deaf and has been trained to come to a certain sound such as a squeaker or bell then so much the better. The hunting report is highly unusual, though not impossible by any means. -- 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 [Posted in FML issue 5115]