More on hazards: I am pet-sitting 3 ferrets and one cat this week. 75% of this population is very well-behaved. However, one little ferret whose name shall not be mentioned, crawled up *inside* the stove the other day--I could *hear* her, but couldn't see where she was or reach her. Fortunately she emerged again from a *tiny* opening under the cabinets, which is good, because I wouldn't want to have to take their kitchen apart while they're on vacation... My 2 cents on ECE: This may seem unrelated, but it reminds me a lot of when feline leukemia really hit certain areas hard, right before the vaccine was developed. I had a number of cats who died from it, though it seemed pretty arbitrary -- it wasn't necessarily the older ones. I know the vaccine isn't anywhere near 100% effective, but things seem to have died down quite a bit (knock on wood). I guess it's also simliar to when parvo went rampant in the dog population. Anyone out there have any comments on this in relation to ECE? Moderating the FML... And finally, some thoughts on what goes into moderating the FML...I know I just take it for granted that the FML will magically appear on my computer each day. I've learned more about ferrets from reading this list than from anywhere else. I also feel I've made a lot of friends from the FML; some are people I don't correspond with, but I feel I know them and their ferrets anyway; others I write to, but may never meet in person; and some folks I've had the very good fortune to actually meet. Some of these new friends live only a few miles away--living in an FFZ, I never dreamed there were other people nearby who also love ferrets! Not only is this helping our (ongoing) efforts to get ferrets legalized, but we can exchange petsitting, socialize, etc. I also know that the FML *doesn't* just magically appear by itself. While some days I can barely keep up with reading it, moderating it means that *all* the messages must be scanned before the list goes out (anyone who reads the unmoderated rec.pets lists knows that there are people out there who are sick enough to take delight in describing cruelty to animals in great detail). Each issue must be scanned, every night, whether the moderator feels like it or not--plus addressing formatting issues, subscriptions/ unsubscriptions, answering other questions, etc. Anyway, I don't want to go on *too* much but I think Bill does a really wonderful job and I know that a lot of work and care and time goes into moderating the FML. [Moderator's note: Thanks. My biggest regret (and the FMLs greatest joy?) is probably that I don't have time to post much since I'm busy moderating, but it's all worth it in the end. BIG] ("Yeah, and we wouldn't have been able to organize our union or exchange personal logs for the Fer Federation Starships if there wasn't an FML." --Ralph, Cinderella & Norm) [Posted in FML issue 1248]