Re: Ferrets in NY state So far as I know, ferrets are illegal in New York City, and a permit is required in the rest of the state. (Some other counties and cities may not allow ferrets, so check locally.) These permits are (still) valid for any number of "ferrets or fitch-ferrets," including breeding and selling. I agree that most likely the state just wants to get its $10, but actually, they may be helping the ferret community without intending to. In our case, for instance, once we decided we wanted a ferret, it was another three weeks before we received our permit. During those three weeks, we built our cage and learned quite a bit more about the fuzzies than the Barron's book we first looked in had told us. The waiting period itself may help avoid some of the impulse purchases that end up in rescue shelters. Re: Peppermint We tried peppermint hard candy on our pair yesterday, with amazingly predictable results. Rusty, the "chunky" male who'll eat anything from carrots to spaghetti (but not plain cooked chicken), loved it at first sniff. Pixxel, our finicky female who wouldn't even try Petromalt until we rubbed her nose in it, deigned to taste the mint only after we rubbed Ferretone on it (ick, what a combination), and looked up at us as though to say, "Why'd you go and ruin my Ferretone like that?" :-) Thank you, whoever first suggested it! - Pam [log in to unmask] friend to Pixxel and Rusty the furry snakes keeper of the Pet Ferret FAQ -- current version is 1.1; email for a copy [Posted in FML issue 0737]