Dear Ferret Folks- E-Mail communication is *such* an alien, insufficient medium of communication for us primates. We have had millions of years of hard-wiring that make us dependent upon tone, inflection, cadence, facial and body-positional cues. Words on a keyboard are *not* the same as face to face communication, not even close. We've been online for what, twenty some years? I don't know what motivated the original Anonymous poster. I'm guessing pain, pain that was a lot more immediate, deeper than the premse of the post. We will never know. Some people are truly troubled by these apocalyptic fears, the holocaust to come. Well, maybe yes. And maybe no. As a species we do *insanely* dangerous things and justify them. We also ignore clear and present dangers. We *have* to, or we couldn't function. We all know that California is due for a big earthquake, New Orleans is partially below sea level, tornadoes love the midwest, etc. But the people who live in those places are not blind or stupid. They are just ordinary folks, coping. Humans are great copers, and in a way that is a shame. We cope with millions of people not having decent shelter, running water, acces to even the most rudimentary education. The list goes on. Me, I keep having ferrets in my life, knowing that they will suffer and die from things like insulinoma, ADV, adrenal disease, lymphoma...and my heart will be ripped out every time. I have seen them grow old, lose their vision, lose all interest in life and leave it prematurely. I have taken them into my custody, already at death's door. Yet, I choose the inevitable pain, and so do all of you. And that's not strictly rational, is it? I think we should give our Anonymous poster a break. We don't know what the story was behind the post. But I am glad that this is a place where a question like that can be asked and debated. It should make us look inward at ourselves. Alexandra in MA with her emergency pillowcase at the ready [Posted in FML 6337]