Just a note on the mean ferret sindrome. My second ferret (who I had for four years, she developed severe epilepsy and was put down after six months of seisures), was a stray who bit like the devil. She hated to be held and was afraid of *everything* for about a year. I had gotten Anais as a kit about a month before I found Butthead (okay, fine, maybe it wasn't the nicest of names!). Anais should be familiar to you all as the 7 year old ferret who is going blind & showing other signs of aging. Butthead was so afraid of people that she once sprayed me for picking her up quickly! She earned her name well, she bit, stole *everything* she could get her little teeth into and **BIT** so hard you couldn't get her off your finger/toe/ankle until she was ready to release. I had found her wandering around campus in Wisconsin, so I don't know her origins. She had aplastic anemia and a serious vulvar infection from an apparent extended heat when I caught her. The good news is, she mellowed slowly over the years, slowly enjoying being held, developing a strong relationship with Anais, greeting me when I came home (they always had at least one room to roam, later they got full apartment privledges), and yes, even playing with me. Okay, so in the early years she ate two sweaters (more than half of each), got in between two walls and wouldn't come out for 36 + hours (we nearly had to knock a hole in the wall), got into a radiator which had to be taken apart, and generally was a pain in the ass (thus the name). She was so tame by the fourth year that she would come to me and put her little wet nose on me when she had seizures and wait for me to pick her up. I think this was the saddest ferret thing I've ever seen, Butthead, standing there at night, waiting for me to wake up. Phenobarbitol made the seizures less severe, but eventually they progressed & she had to be put down. We did not go for exploratory surgery, she weighed about 3/4 of a pound, and was showing other signs of aging & decided against the surgery. Anyways, as you all know Anais has a new friend now, another rescued ferret, & we hope they each live long happy little weasel lives. [Posted in FML issue 0428]