Vicky, I would ask your state health vet where he got his information on ferrets and attacks on babies. Ask him if it was "Pet European Ferrets: A Hazard to Public Health, Small Livestock, and Wildlife" (CA Dept. of Health Svcs, December 1988). If it was, then call the California Domestic Ferret Association, and ask them to send you a copy of their "1990 Public Information Manual", "Ferrets and the New Inquisition, A Rebuttal to the CDHS Report of December 1988", and copies of their survey of all 50 states regarding feral populations and danger to wildlife. Ask your state health vet to read it, especially the middle sections. Finally, if he thinks ferrets are a danger to humans, ask him what his office's statisitcs are on dog bites requiring medical attention, fatalities from dog bites, and the age of the recipients of the bites. Then ask if he has familiarized himself with the likely number of dogs and the the likely number of ferrets for whatever period he likes. If he doesn't want to accept guesses at the number of ferrets, ask him if he has a good basis to make any comparative claims as to bite rates for ferrets as against dogs, or alternatively ask him to solve for how many ferrets there must be to make the bite stats come out as more damaging for the ferret than the dog (to me, bites requiring serious medical attention or involving death are most interesting). Ask him if cats are a danger to wildlife while you're at it, and ask him if the regular unsupervised nature of cat excursions and feral cat populations are more likely to produce damage to wildlife than the occasional escapes of the non-feral-producing ferrets. It's very hard to ask any of that non-confrontationally and unemotionally, but it probably pays to be careful to be non-confrontational if possible so as not to shut down but instead persuade your listener. Regarding couches, I had great success with good quality coated rectangular mesh nailed to the bottom of the couch. A lot of work, but the ferrets can not get through it, and seldon has great fun motoring himself around on his back under the couch using the mesh as a kind of ladder. It's pretty unlikely he will come to misfortune with this arrangement (hope, hope). Todd Cromwell (human) Dors and Seldon (cutables) [Posted in FML issue 1612]