Hi all, I'm glad I am not the only one alarmed about staking out ferrets and leaving them to fend for themselves or worse yet rely on an avian species as watchdogs. There may be a huge difference in what could be construed as dangerous between the UK and the US however, personally I'd want to minimize the "what if's" by being able to eyeball my ferrets while they are outdoors and only being a few steps away from them at any given moment. In Florida there are a whole host of hazards to keep an eye out from many birds of prey: hawks, eagles, owls, osprey, falcons; to wild/feral canines: foxes, coyotes, loose dogs; even wild/feral felines cats, bobcats, panthers; to snakes: rattlers, moccasins, coral, rat, indigo, corn, pine, pythons, constrictors and more; don't forget alligators and crocodiles and yes even bears! Besides these predatory animals that would happily make a meal of a bite size ferret, there are also other animals (like raccoons) that could dispatch the ferret just to protect their young from a perceived threat. Any one of those animals could roam through the yard and pick off a delectable ferret staked to the ground in less time than it takes for the human to spot the danger and run out of the house to help the ferret. Scattering crunchy kibbles about for the ferrets to locate will only call in even more wildlife like flocks of wild crows & turkeys which will definitely get the upper hand on a tied up ferret; the kibble will also bring in ants - usually fire ants and I've seen horses go into shock and run through fences when bitten by these marauders - a staked out ferret would just look like it was having a blast jumping and rolling to get away from these poisonous insects! As for the figure 8 vs H style harness each manufacturer makes theirs differently. I have had good luck with the 5 in 1 harnesses and crappy luck with the Marshall's ferret harnesses. To make the 5 in 1 more comfortable for the larger ferrets I add another spring ring to the connection between the collar and the harness. I make my own ferret walking harnesses/shirts which works the best. I've only used a figure 8 harness on my potbelly pig when he was a baby and it worked o.k. I've taken my ferrets on my farrier rounds with me and tied them in the stalls or barns out of harms way, but within view. So I don't have a problem with ferrets being staked out or tied- just being "unsupervised". I am glad that I am not the only one that would ever leave my ferret staked out without being in the immediate vicinity. It may work for some, but I certainly wouldn't advise it. Cheers, Kim please visit : for ferret help and info: http://holisticferret.proboards80.com/index.cgi http://ferretopia.proboards51.com/index.cgi yahoo groups Natural Ferrets for fun: www.vanityferret.com [Posted in FML 6080]