Some folks on the FMl have been here since it's inception, others are just joining a great bunch of us have been herer somewhere in between those times; we all come here to share experiences, ask questions, post "look at this!" items, and in general talk about ferrets. The format here is different from other ferret forums which are done in so called "real time" and that have specific areas for thevarious ferret venues. THis is a failry simple straight forward format of a gathering of emails with a similar subject matter - ferrets. There are frequent emailers, and infrequent emailers. I'd say that without actually compilinsg statistics that the two predominant venues of emails are regarding ferrets that have passed and shelters needing support. Both topics of course that touch practically every ferret owner at some point or another. Then there are nutriton posts and of course health posts bringing up the next two most common; with enrichment, ferrets in the news, tragedies and comic adventures bringing up the tail. Every last one of these posts are written from a person - I am unaware of any computer being able to formulate a story on its own. So this person of course will have experiences,emotions, possibly first hand or second knowledge of the subject or just simply a point of view to present. Some of the posts are written off the cuff, others are well thought out, some are fraught with typos, mis-spellings and poor grammar - but the poster's ideas still come through. THis is a place for ferret aficionados from all walks of life and all over the world to gather - granted it is predominantly an english speaking gathering - but with today's technologies I've seen a few posts come through that were translations of the poster's native language. Whenever you get this many people with such a wide variety of backgrounds you will ALWYAS get a wide variety of view points! Each one who posts may consider their viewpoint to be best - or at least best for them; but those that read the posts at least get another viewpoint to consider, mull over and possibly utilize to make changes to their own approaches of ferret care. Its difficult for many people to separate the personal from the subject matter but if Bill were to ONLY post the nicey nicey, sweetness and light , lovey dovey - oh my ferret is just so cute and please pray for my ferret - it is sick, or please greet my ferret at the rainbow bridge topics - then the FML would NOT be a place where people gather to learn, share or expound! I am NOT a stranger to controversial subjects - from vet care to nutrition to housing to management, I now have 10 ferrets and ALL of them are rescues from one situation or another. While I am a proponent of natural diets Two of the ten are still comfirmed kibble crunchers, two more are venturing into the natural diet and the remaining 6 have transitioned to natural raw and whole prey. Some of my rescues were simple rehomings because of familial changes, others were just uncared for, unwanted ferrets. I've dealt with insulinoma, AM dealing with insulinoma and adrenal and my very first ferret succumbed to sudden onset juvenile lymphosarcoma. At this point, I do NOT see myself PURCHASING another ferret - instead I choose to rescue them. Does this make me a "rescue"? Depends upon your definition - I'd say yes, a private rescue. Does that obligate me to rescue every ferret that crosses my path? Certainly not! IF I had a 501c3 designation would that obligate me? NOPE! In my other life as a farrier - I learned early on - YOU CANNOT save them all! the animal's caretakers have that responsibility - all we can do is offer them the knowledge to do so. There will ALWAYS be cold hearted ne-er do wells that have no compassion for the animals in their care, that will discard the animal when it becomes ill or no longer is fun, and unfortunately those of us who can offer help can only offer help to so many. My limit at this time is 10, but I STILL can help transport ferrets to other rescuers that CAN manage just one more - and here in lies the need for a NETWORK that communicates amongst itself! We don't ALL have to agree on nutrition, vet care, housing, playtime, enrichment - but it WOULD be nice to agree to see if we could help just one more ferret - and when we cannot - we have to come to grips with the reality that they CANNOT all be saved. I think Bill Gruber does a fantastic job of assembling and monitoring the FML - allowing so called controversial ( because a controversy is simply a topic that two or more sides cannot agree upon) topics to be bantered about is a great way to discuss different viewpoints and sometimes come to grips with situations! A "FLAME" as I understand it, is a posting in the cyber world meant as a direct attack upon a person - usually accompanied with poor language and abusive statements. A post that simply states a contrary viewpoint is NOT in itself a FLAME - unless the poster has lowered themselves to name calling and a personal attack. If a particualr subject rubs you the wrong way then utilize the scroll option and bypass it! Much like the local library - you only chose the books you WANT to read! Just because you walked thgough the front dooors does NOT obligate you to read every book in the library! Although sometimes choosing a book at random can be a fun way to broaden your horizons! Keep up the good work Bill! 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 [Posted in FML 6622]