A little while ago, someone here suggested using vinegar to repel ferrets, and many people reported back that it worked really well. Since Mina loves to dig at the carpet, we gave it a try. She HATED it - she'd get a whiff of it and run off sneezing and shaking her head. We thought "Victory!" and did our own war-dance of joy. But as you all know, victories for us NH are short-lived. Mina must have referred to the FLO manual for methods in dealing with noxious substances. She began with the desensitization technique, where she'd go up to the vinegared carpet spot, scratch for a few seconds until she couldn't take the smell any more, and quickly back away. She gradually increased the time she could spend in close proximity with the vinegar. The next technique employed was nose avoidance. She'd go up to the smelly spot, stretch her front feet out in front of her as far as she could, turn her head to the side and pull it back as far as she could, and proceed to scratch. Having combined these techniques for about a week, she is hardly bothered at all by the vinegar anymore. As a matter of fact, she gets it all over her feet because she scratches right after we spray it. So the victory goes to the Marinated Mina! Vanessa ("if I sprinkle some dill on the vinegar, will Mina have dill pickled ferret feet?") Mina and Josette And one more thing, add another name to the list of people who got eczema after getting ferrets. Chris developed eczema a few months after we got our first ferret (Mina). [Posted in FML issue 1682]