They tend to be good about corrections so I hope to soon see the error in <http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=researchers-ferret-out-reasons-for-12-03-26> fixed. Here is what I posted in their comments section to help protect ferrets and also sent directly to their editors: >Ferrets sedentary? Not during our three decades of having them in our >family. > >"Non-cursorial" does not mean that ferrets are hammock potatoes for >the same reason that a weight lifter or sprinter is athletic. Ferrets >are not marathon types of animals. They prefer activities with sudden >bursts of great strength, and hate anything monotonous, not a surprise >given their lively and curious intellects. Think of them as being >mixed muscle with a lot of white muscle like hurtle racers rather >than red muscle like marathon runners, and for their boredom think >of what what bores a four year old human. > >Having respected press like Scientific American use terms such as >"sedentary" as you did on your website is dangerous for ferrets. > >There are two ways that incorrect depiction endangers ferrets. >First, it can cause newbies to miss common ferret illnesses such as >insulinoma and cardiomyopathy which often have lethargy as the first >symptom. Second, it can lead them into thinking that they can leave >ferrets cage-bound. That has two results. It is mentally unhealthy >abuse and results in aberrant behaviors sometimes including biting. >Plus, poor muscle mass and poor muscle tone in range of mammal studies >result in increased rates of many illnesses and worsened vulnerability >to accidents. > >What do ferrets do for exercise when given the chance? Meltdown >carried a television remote a quarter of her weight to the top of >our bedroom closet. Later using gravity as a friend by digging her >claws into the bodice of a dress and ripping her way down like a >pirate movie hero with a knife. Jumpstart, from a sitting position, >could uncoil to jump over a barrier which was three feet high. >A professional volleyball friend would have loved to manage a >proportional plyometric feat. Orville daily moves 2 dozen toys, >some weighing more than he does. Warp would appear on the opposite >side of the room from where you had just seen her, ditto Wizbang. > >White muscle exercise also has emotional rewards, as do mixed muscle >exercises like hurtle racing. > >Scientifically, it made sense to look at the runner's highs enjoyed by >people like our ultra-marathon champ niece, but it does not make sense >for anyone, including the university publicity site and Scientific >American, to assume that those who prefer other forms of exercise are >not athletic, and perhaps the next step would be for the researchers >to try to understand the pleasure felt by those who engage in more >plyometric forms of activity. Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.miamiferret.org/ http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html all ferret topics: http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html "All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow." (2010, Steve Crandall) On change for its own sake: "You can go really fast if you just jump off the cliff." (2010, Steve Crandall) [Posted in FML 7378]