DEAF FERRETS.... Regarding that special little ferret, Frank, who seems to be deaf: we have found that deaf ferrets benefit very much from feeling the vibrations of our own vocal cords as we speak to them. Holding a deaf ferret against your throat when you gently talk to it seems to calm and sooth it, and we have seen excellent results with deaf ferrets who are especially nervous. Remember that a deaf ferret cannot gain confidence and reassurance from a gentle voice as a normal ferret would. I find that my voice plays a big part in my relationship with my ferrets. If I come suddenly into a room where they are playing, (certain ferrets are more skiddish than others, some not bothered at all),they hear the sound of shuffling feet or especially if I'm wearing a pair of shoes that they haven't heard before, or maybe I'm carrying something that rattles like something they haven't heard before, they may scatter at top speed for hiding places, tails fluffed. But as soon as they hear my laughter and voice speaking to them, they come creeping out, wide-eyed, looking a bit sheepish nonetheless! This is when the poor little deaf guy sits there looking around, wondering where everyone went! But if the deaf one has been raised in a rough manner or maybe never handled much, he may be jittery and squirmy, and allowing him to FEEL your gentle tones of voice will work wonders to replace what he cannot hear. FERRETS PLAYING IN WATER.... To Ronald who wanted to know if anyone else had ever observed a ferret "paddling" in his water dish, I would like to say, "oh yes!" I have three of them, out of my 33, who do this, Snowy, Dinky, and Mr. Mischief, all big males (no, Dinky isn't dinky - he only was when he was a baby!). These stinkers delight in making a big mess of their water dishes. (I prefer water dishes over the bottles because I definitely think ferrets drink a lot more water when it is easier for them to access, as they can be pretty lazy, not wanting to sit for so long getting those little drops out.) I also have two little females, Daisy and Frosty, who dig in their food dishes, effectively dragging all the kibbles out, preferring to pick them up off the floor! SPIDER BITES A few days back Christopher asked if it's possible that ferrets can be bitten by spiders. I would say yes. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have a spider called the Hobo. It is our version of the southeast's Brown Recluse. It can kill small animals, make people very sick, and at least one woman is known to have died from its bite. I have captured several of these critters in our house. Two years ago I was bitten by one on my lower leg. The bite was nasty and extremely painful, the whole shin bone was sore up to the knee, and the lymph nodes in my groin were swollen and sore. I was quite ill for several days, it was extremely painful to walk for two weeks. It was about six months before the bite spot was hardly noticeable. Then one day I noticed Maranda acting very strangely. She would run across the floor and suddenly plop down, eyes still open, get up and run a little ways and then plop back down. Even with all of our heart disease and insulinoma patients, I had never seen anything like this. I thought it was some kind of shock. I picked her up and she went limp. Then I saw the big bite mark on the bony part of a hind leg, just above her foot. It was swollen and red. It was late in the evening, and we are more than an hour's drive from the emergency vet, so I quickly ran for the children's Benadryl, which I ALWAYS keep handy in case of allergic reactions. I had never used it on a ferret before, but I didn't know what else to do. It's liquid form enabled me to draw it up and give her about .25 cc by mouth. She was coherent and able to swallow it. Within a half hour she was completely normal, and the swelling on her leg had gone down considerably. I think that a lot depends on WHERE on the body the bite is inflicted, and also the individual's particular senstivity to it as to how severe it will be. [Posted in FML issue 1693]