Re. Pat Patterson's citation of an article stating that a ferret killed a 2-year-old child: I have collected many articles on ferrets and the dangers of pets (most from JAVMA, going back to 1980), due to having lived in the very ferret-hostile city of Minneapolis, MN. If I remember correctly - perhaps from a FML article - that case was under investigation because of the possibility of child and/or animal abuse. The idea is that the ferret may have been abused horribly by the family, and the child might have been as well, thus the case might not be as clear-cut as "the ferret killed the child." Anyone know anything about the findings? I'd hate to think that a child's death might have been blamed on an animal when perhaps some family members might have had something to do with it, directly or indirectly. (Insert typical statements here about watching animals with children and vice versa, the relative higher danger of dogs, etc.) I'm living in a suburb of Mpls. right now (St. Louis Park - great for ferrets so far!), and searching for 8 in 1 ferret food. I found one place in Robbinsdale that carries it - any Twin Citian FMLers see it elsewhere? How about the Chicagoans - I'm moving there soon. I feed a blend of Totally Ferret and Iams kitten now, and am constantly looking for foods my ferrets might like. I'm trying to fatten Randall up after his spring weight loss, and thought that raisin coating might really encourage him to eat (though his appetite is fine - thanks, Dr. Williams, for calming the fears of a worried ferret mom). I saw the article in Modern Ferret #1, and also saw how young Mary is! She and her husband (? SO? whatever) are quite the young entrepreneurs, it seems - impressive. :) BTW, when do growth spurts tend to happen in under 1-year-old ferrets? Rocko is anywhere from 2-6 weeks older than Randall, and I suddenly noticed that he's huge in comparison - maybe 1/4 to 1/3 bigger, and certainly heavier. They were the same size back in November, and Randall used to be larger. I'd worried Randall would bully Rocko, but it seems that Rocko, being my first, was determined to be alpha ferret. Rocko should be about 1 year old now. Could it be just a natural size difference, or will Randall suddenly get huge? They're both neutered (MF), and the same length (16" tip of nose to base of tail), but different heights and girths. Happy ferreting to all, Denise, plus Rocko (~1 year old chocolate point? male) and Randall (~11 mo. old sable male), and Grumpy (~1.5 year old teddy bear hamster - rather scared of Rocko's recent hamster-cage-climbing and attempts to get in...) /\\ ____ ,^-o, Denise Voskuil - [log in to unmask] ``-,' `-';~~ Brain: "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?" .',-'~`../' Pinky: "I think so, Brain, but if we didn't have `~~ `~~ ears we'd look like weasels." ("Animaniacs") "Ferrets are kittens with leather jackets and no fear!" - John Reed [Posted in FML issue 1151]