Since 1988, thought it was `92, when I acquired my first ferrets, they came as 'gifts' from my animal loving sister. I was in an apartment that allowed no pets, and 'Ruth' said they don`t make any loud noise, and the landlord won`t even know they`re there! There were 3, ALL Marshalls, which I didn`t even realize meant anything, till I joined the FML. I had simply remembered their "Tattoos" they had when we got them. They died at ages of 5, 5, &6...Not too bad for a first time fert owner!... I learned a lot after those three,....First being that I should have joined & read the fml about 1 year before obtaining the ferts!!... Oh well,...of the 5 that I have now, 1 is a 7yr old Petco, healthy, NO TATTOOS thank God, and the rest are rescues....two are under 1.5yrs old, one 6, all Healthy!,... and one TATOOED, adrenal, w/Insulinoma -(My "Lukey" you might remember), 7yrold....I`m glad to see that his care has kept him with me for 7, so far, years..... I really do wonder where my 4 who are NOT 'marked' for an early exit, came from?..2 albinos, 1dew, & 2 sables,..one large & one tiny!... I only Wish ALL of the ferrets that have & still do, own me, never had any tatoos at all, especially the big "M",...for MARKED FOR TROUBLE.... (some of you may have owned "Marshall" ferrets, and had good luck with them living to a ripe, old age....bravo!...I wish it were the norm!....) peace, & Dooks.... John Rich & the n.j. gang, USA. "The average Dog, Ferret, & Cat, are nicer than the average human"!..... john rich <[log in to unmask]> [Posted in FML issue 5307]