First - LISA's Post - HEAR HEAR! I agree. I only have 2 things to add (1) I don't need a lot of statistical/scientific babble (stats can be made to say anything and scientists have been known to be wrong) to tell me that what MF does is.....not very nice. Regardless of arguments about closed colony breeding, personal feedligns about breeding for research yay or nay etc., those breeders spend their whole life in a cage being kept in heat by artificial lighting etc. because all big business is bottom line - THE BIG BUCK which is I think is inappropriate for animals and animal lovers. Also common sense, while subjective, has just a big an input as statistics and scientific babble (2) That does not mean that the ferrets are to blame or bad, they are just victims to my mind and I would certainly pay for one second hand or take one from a shelter though I would try not to support MF by buying from a pet store. Keleen - since you seem to be having a small run on semi tame minks in your area I wonder if there is a mink farm nearby or a person who is into exotics somehow and they are getting loose or being let go? Has anyone ever noticed their ferret, when playing, drag something backwards for aways inbetween their paws? Giesela will take a small sock or used dryer sheets (she seems to like these for some reason) and after wiggling around with them on her back with them between her forefeet and kicking them with her back, right herself, postion the item between her paws and scootch backwards with the the item between her forepaws. It'd be easier to carry it in her mouth but she doesn't. She is my toy "killer", shakes small toys very hard, twists and rolls when she has a toy on a string and is very big on digging at the mouth of ground squirrel holes in the yard. Boris does none of this. Odd how they can be so different isn't it? Of course Boris has his quirks like only nipping men's feet. Makes me really popular:) Dooks to all, Mary, Boris and Giesela P.S. The IRC ferret channel (on Undernet) usually has 3-5 of us - come visit! The moderator LuCy is very nice! [Posted in FML issue 1693]