Greetings. I've just acquired a 3rd ferret and so am now the proud Mom of a real "business". It's been a while since I've been able to send e-mail, but I've been receiving the newsletter through my house mate's account. I've also heard rumors lately about my new place of employment that we will soon have access!!! It will be great to be back in touch with some other ferret parents. First order of business is a reply to Laurie re:NYS licensing. I, too, have heard that 'rooters are illegal within New York City limits, but having never lived there, I don't know for sure. As for the rest of NY state, a license is required. It's a Fish and Wildlife License and costs $10 per year. I'm surprised that you got yours from a pet store without a license, I had to wait 4 weeks for my license before I could get my first ferret. The license says: A. The licensee may possess, sell and breed ferrets, fitch- ferrets or fitch. [BTW: for the newcomer: "fitch" are Polecats, not ferrets. Eurasian Polecats are theoretically the wild forebears of the domestic ferret. "fitch-ferrets" are polecat/ferret crosses. They are *very* similar, but there are differences.] B. The licensee shall not dispose of a ferret, fitch-ferret or fitch except to an individual who possesses a valid Ferret License. C. The licensee must submit a written report when he or she disposes of a ferret, ff or f. The report must be sent to NYSDEC, Special License Unit, 50 Wold Road, Albany, NY 12233-4752, within 10 days of the change in possession of the animal and it must include the name, address and ferret license of the licensee, the name, address and ferret license number of the individual acquiring animal and the date of transaction. At least my new license doesn't have the special message on the bottom that it had last year. It said, in effect, that if my ferret bit some- one, the DEC could seize the animal and cut its head off to test for rabies...grrrr. [They still can, can't they?] I guess a license wouldn't be necessary if you already had ferrets or bought them from someone without a license...I've never been stopped on the street by a DEC officer and asked for my license. :-) But better safe than sorry. On to happier things...my new rug-shark is a silvermitt named "Tuxedo" because of his white bib and gloves. He's the first boy in the fold and the "old ladies" are taking no guff from him. Right after I got him and introduced them all, Cocoa grabbed him by the scruff and dragged him across the floor! He just tucked in his front paws and went for a ride. He's almost 2 1/2 months old now and fusses at being treated like a kid (OK, a group is a business, what's a baby called? kit?). Besides, ["kit" is correct] he's already almost as big as Cocoa. I can't wait to see how big he gets... Unfortunately, he's got at least a few more weeks in his own cage before he joins the ladies...I want to make sure he's litter trained before I give him a larger space. [*Big*. Toby was twice the size of our females. Close to four pounds. I think you'll find that Tuxedo will be more rambunctious than your females, more fun, but gentler.] Which leads me to my final paragraph, a question. I got Jester around Thanksgiving 2 years ago. She was an only ferret for almost 4 months and became very well litter trained. When I got Cocoa in late February of the next year, I got a bigger house for them and put Cocoa in the big cage shortly after she arrived. She was never very worried about hitting the box and it has gotten worse in the last 6 months... Any ideas. I'm thinking about putting her in Tux's cage when he's well- trained, but it seems awful to take away her daytime company just because I don't like cleaning up after her. I guess it won't be forever, but I really feel like the wicked step mother whenever I think about it. Other ideas would be greatly appreciated. Also any substances that I could use to clean the corners of the "scent" that draws her back even after I clean up? Gotta go now. It's been great to be back. Happy ferretting, Robbin (replies and newsletters still go to mort...) [Posted in FML 0096]