Yes, there is an exotic animal permit in Albuquerque, N.M., for ferrets. It costs $50 a year and, the way the ordinance is written, only one permit is required regardless of the number of "exotics" a person owns. This permit is not universally required throughout the state; the ordinance I have is for Albuquerque only and is the providence of the mayor. What rules other areas have, I don't know. I am not surprised that different people have gotten totally different information from different state and local agencies. I spoke to a manager at Animal Control a couple of years ago who insisted there was no such thing as a rabies shot for ferrets because they're "wild animals." He told my vet's office the same thing. I've gotten to where I don't believe most of what state or local officials say, because most of them are clueless. Maybe that's why our new governor, Gary Johnson, got rid of a lot of longtime state officials so he could start over (plus I'm sure he wants to appoint his own supporters). As I recall, it was a spokesman from Fish & Game who was quoted in the paper three or four years ago as calling people who objected to the intentional killing of a bird -- a yellow vireo -- that had never been seen north of Mexico by a Berkeley grad student "rabid bird lovers." I have a problem with that. The student got his blanket collection permit from -- who else -- Fish & Game. This "researcher" taped the bird's call so he could lure it off of Carlsbad Caverns National Park property where he could not kill it legally. I don't have a lot of respect for the agencies that deal with animals in this state. The only animal-oriented people with any real power are the ranchers. Which is fine up to a point, but I don't believe we should ignore all the other critters as unimportant. On a more positive note: Lucky Charm is playing in the trash can. It's kind of deep for her; she looks pretty hilarious trying to get back out of there. Of course, it only took her a few seconds -- she is quite a climber. Pretty soon, she'll rival Espie for climbing champ honors. Linda, Espie, Frankie, and Lucky Charm [Posted in FML issue 1096]