Hello all, well 1st. let me introduce myself. my name is mike and im the proud (yet sad) owner of Calvin (1.5yr old silver mitt). i was quite happy to see that there was a place for ferret lovers to gather. i have a few questions today that i hope will be answered by others here at fml- 1) does anyone know about the existence of a bylaw in windsor ont. that forbids our furry friends. currently Cal is staying with my parents (mom loves him :)) but i would really like to bring him to live with me while im at school. so far ive been told that a) ferrets are NOT allowed in windsor as a result of problems in the past b) ferrets are allowed but MUST be registered c) ferrets are not a problem at all. sadly i cant seem to get any definate answer and am running out of patience. i want him here but dont want to risk losing him. [I seem to remember Windsor and Oshawa being listed as FFZs. The simplest thing to do is contact bylaw enforcement in Windsor (see your blue pages under municipal government) and ask.] 2) is there a way to fully train a ferret to a leash? although i won't walk him in the winter (vets advice) i take him for walks about 3 times a week during the summer. these walks are a mixture of him trotting along my side sniffing the air and the regular application of ferret brakes (spreadout with nails digging into thr ground to prevent movement) the only way to get him going again is to pick him up, walk 5 feet and then set him down again at which point he starts walking contently. is this normal? do walks go by HIS terms and am i left to oblige? help. 3) Cal is usually a great guy but he occasionally gets into fits of biting (esp my girlfriend) he'll be walking around contently observing his surrounding when all of a sudden he goes into a ferret dance and starts chasing my girlfrined. she seems to think he's jealous of her since he really doesn't do it to me but im not sure. and yes this is another obstacle in getting Cal to live here in windsor (she doesn't want him here if he's gonna "attack" her in our apartment) is Cal just playing and trying to get her to play with him or is he actually attacking her? 4) Back at my parents place Cal lives in a 4X4X2 foot enclosure with regular run of my room (when im home) yet he seems to freak out when he is first out of 'his room'. is Cal just showing his excitement for being out of the 'cage'? is there any hope of him calming down (again in reference to him living with me in windsor i would like to give him run of the apartment as often as possible but we don't want him destroying the place) is 'ferret proofing' the only solution or can he be 'trained' to relax outside of his private domain. I should have had a disclaimer at the beginning of this post but better late than never. Cal was given to me by my girlfriend when he was still a pup (kit?) (~6months old). a friend of hers had him but soon realized he required alot more attention than a hampster and gave him up for adoption. i had read (a bit) about ferrets and decided to help her out. since then hes been neutured and has become a wonderful (if not confusing) addition to my life. i really like having him but am generally caught short of knowing alot about his proper upkeep and well being. i try to learn as much as possible about ferrets but i find books rather limited and most of the pet shop owners i've talked to (who DO sell ferrets) seem to know as much or less than i do. thats about it. i appolijize for the extreme lenght and look forward to the advice sharing of fellow ferret lovers. cheers, [Posted in FML issue 0999]