Hi all . . . I posted bits and pieces from the article Dr. Steele quoted, and I forgot something important that I questioned but couldn't find the source materiel. Paisley and Lauer's article also states: "Although considered poorly adapted to survive on their own, they [ferrets] have established self-sustaining feral populations that have been destructive to local animals in several states and foreign countries (ref# 5-7). Damage to poultry has led to regulations limiting their sale in some states (ref# 6)." I have been under the impression that ferrets have never managed to sustain population in the wild. Here are the references 5-7--if anyone has access to these journals, reports or books, could you look up these articles and give a quick report on what they say? 5. Childs G: What to do with a ferret. *Community Aminal Control* 1987; 6: 10-13 6. Need for data on ferrets that bite, eat human flesh, or develop rabies. *Calif Morbid* 1986; 7:1 7. King C: *Immigrant killers* New York, Oxford University Press Inc, 1985 I realize these articles are old, but the Paisely and Lauer artical was written (I think) with the intention of being alarming . . . and as Dr. Steele proved, this old article is still being quoted as reason for parents to fear ferrets. I would like to see the proof of established feral populations, and I'm sure others would, also. The little paragraph I quoted is claimed to draw its info from these 3 sources. Autumn sleep: Pepper (male, castrated) seems to be running on a 3-day cycle. He's very active for two days in a row, with playtime lasting sometimes up to three hours. The third day he only stays awake for 15-30 minutes, then goes back to bed for several hours, with max 3 of those short playtimes during the day. The funniest thing about him is that he loves his cage! He goes back to his cage to sleep, even though he has dragged blankets and newspapers under the couch for "cat naps!" He has a medium-dog size "VariKennel" that comes apart easily for cleaning, and the cage door is open almost all day, unless I have to go somewhere. He gets locked in when I go to work in the evenings, until my boyfriend comes home, and he's locked in at night. He loved his hammock in the old kennel, which was the stackable kind, with huge indents on the bottom that made very uncomfortable lumps on the cage floor. But now that he has a kennel with a smooth bottom, he doesn't use the hammock at all. (I think he fell out of it one night). Thanks to the person who suggested plastic shower hooks for the hammock--they work great, even though he's not using it right now. Litter: I've been using clumping litter and checking his nose and heiney regularly, but never thought about the rest of the respiratory tract, which I cannot see. I've never had a problem, but I'm switching to pellet litter to *ensure* that I never have a problem. <grin> Better safe than very sorry. Oh, and thanks for the mention of rawhide collars shrinking when wet--I am aware of this and of course remove the collar if it gets wet (and before baths), I just forgot to point it out. I'm glad someone caught my omission. I've found that this sort of collar rides very low on the neck, and none of my babies have ever face-dunked past their whiskers . . . but it's a good thing to watch our for with this kind of collar. --Sherri [Posted in FML issue 1734]