I'm new here and my name is Dan. I'm a new ferret owner and have only just found this list and it has endless possibilities. First off from what I've read it mainly seems to be Americans and Canadians. Are there any Australian owners out there? I have a few things to say to start the ball rolling and the first is a comment on the RAID incident. Frankly since Sabrina the wonder-hunter joined my family I have seen no insects - only the occasional pile of spider legs. This suits me perfectly because I absolutely hate spiders and can't stand the sight of them. Anything else but not spiders. Anyway Sabrina will spot a huntsman spider (about as big as you hand with long spindly legs and not terribly large body) and then promptly pounce on it and devour its body and leave the legs in a neat arrangement that suggests at the original shape of the spider. The best insecticide you could hope for because she will track spiders on walls as well. I have seen her follow a spider around a wall for a quarter of an hour which takes an immense amount of patience for a ferret, climb a convenient piece of furniture and leap headfirst into a wall and slide down it like the cartoons in order to make her kill. On a dietery note, the story of the soft drink reminds me of Sabrina's addiction to Coke. She can hear the fizz of an opened bottle across the house and come tearing round to latch onto your leg. I have to be very careful of glasses of coke because just the other day I left one on the computer desk and - you guessed it - she knocked it over the mouse and various books (spared the keyboard) and drenched herself. She then ran over the keyboard dooking with excitement as I chased her thinking it was the greatest game. I know that it will rot her teeth if she drinks any significant amount, but honestly I can't stop her sometimes. I'm not doing well either because she eats grapes occasionally, but one day she ambushed my girlfriend and ran off with the branch of grapes which were scattered around the house in the subsequent chase that is becoming a common occurence. We have still found an occasional grapes in very unlikely places. I think it's time to stop rambling so thanks for your time. Dan. [Posted in FML issue 1652]