I was going to stay completely out of the discussions with Edward, but I am afraid I have to chime in here and agree with Kim and Edward - ferrets, as well as dogs and cats will kill just for the thrill. Yes, killing is instinctual, and is meant as a means of survival. But, our beloved pets will do it for fun, if they do not need to do it for survival. Here are 3 examples of why I say this. Example 1 - My parents used to raise Siberian huskies. These dogs were allowed to be inside or out during the day, and were kept inside at night. They were fairly well trained for household pets, and knew that little creatures in the house were not to be touched. At one point my parents also had a house cat, and at another point a guinea pig, and the huskies never bothered either of these animals. Outdoors was a different matter, though. These dogs would stalk and catch birds and squirrels (and any other small animal that happened into the yard) and kill them. They never ate what they killed, but would play with the carcass of their kill until my parents found it and took it away. I once witnessed them stalk and kill a squirrel, and they did it with great glee. There were 3 of them at the time, and after catching the poor squirrel and killing it, they played with it. My parents did not really approve of this behavior, but did understand it was an instinctual and natural behavior. They did what they could to prevent it (the dogs wore collars with bells when they went into the yard), but it still happened from time to time. These dogs were fed a commercial diet, and did not view their kills as food. They never made any attempt to eat what they caught and killed. They simply hunted and killed for fun. Example 2 - My first house was an old house that had a dug out basement under part of it, and crawl space under other parts. It was poorly insulated, and had plenty of ways for small creatures like mice to get into the house. At the time, I had 4 house cats. These were well fed cats who ate a commercial diet. At night, if a mouse came up into the house, the cats would hunt it, catch it, and play with it until it died. Sometimes they would make a ruckus while in the process of catching and playing with a mouse, and I would wake up and go to investigate what was going on. I would find them very excited and playing with their prey. If the mouse was still unhurt, I would take it from them and turn it loose in a park near my house the next day. Otherwise, I would dispose of the body. But, sometimes, they would be quiet enough that I would not be awakened. On those occasions, I would awake the next morning to find a dead mouse in my bed. Apparently, after they tired of playing with the mouse, they would bring it to me. While I can't say for certain that they never ate what they caught and killed, I don't think they did. They were well fed, and never gave me any indication they wanted to eat a mouse. They did not view the mouse as food - just something to play with. And, from what I observed when I caught them in the act, they very much enjoyed playing with and killing the mouse. Example 3 - At one point I had sugar gliders in addition to ferrets and cats. I went to great lengths to make certain that the sugar gliders were never out when either cats or ferrets were around. But, one night a joey managed to squeeze through the cage bars and get loose in the house while we were asleep. Unfortunately, this joey chose to go into a ferret cage. At the time, I was feeding my ferrets only kibble. The ferrets killed the joey, but did not eat it. The next morning, I found the corpse in the ferrets' cage. I did not witness what had happened in the night, but it appeared the body of the joey had been played with. I now have ferrets that eat whole prey. I do not feed live prey, but pre-killed frozen and thawed prey to my ferrets. Often before eating a chick or a mouse, they will grab it by the neck and shake it, as though trying to kill it. They do this with a light of excitement in their eyes. I suspect that if given a live mouse or chick, they would happily kill it, but since they are used to eating prey, would see it as food and eat it as well. This is a side of our pets we do not like to think about, but it is all part of their natural instincts. Carnivore animals that are not fed a prey diet will often still kill a smaller animal, even though they do not consider it food. They do it as a matter of instinct. But, they will do it with great vigor and will appear to be thoroughly enjoying the act. It is like they are getting an adrenalin rush from the act. I am sorry if people find this offensive, but the truth is, it is something very natural. I personally would never give my ferrets a live mouse or chick, because I feel it would be inhumane for the prey animal. I realize I am depriving me ferrets of the pleasure of the kill, but I think it is something they can live without. However, I also do not condemn people who choose to feed their ferret live prey. I am certain there are ferrets, as well as cats and dogs that will not kill, and do not have to be trained not to kill, but there are also many that will. In the 3 examples I gave, none of the animals were ever trained to kill, and in fact the killing was discouraged. Also, none of the animals in those examples felt a need to kill to get food. They made no attempt to eat their kill. They simply did it for the fun of it. Danee DeVore ADV - If your ferret hasn't been tested, you don't know! For more information visit: http://www.ferretadv.com ADV - Find out how you can help: http://help4adv.terrabox.com/ [Posted in FML 6224]