Hi! I apologize if this is not appropriate material for FML. However, I'm a bit alarmed that word-of-mouth accounts of ferret mortality (life span and more) aren't consistent ("6-8 years" vs "7-9 years" vs a vet who said "13 years in the wild" - ????????? - vs "chronic health problems starting at age 5" vs "chronic health problems by age 3"). I'll be reviewing Morton, Winstead, and Jeans regarding their accounts, but I don't remember any statements from the first time I read them. Although I'm sure the MF folks probably have a very good idea as to how long ferrets live, I just have to measure this myself. So if y'all will indulge me a bit, please e-mail the following information about your ferret(s) : 1) if living, age at present; if deceased, age at death; 2) coloration - sable, albino, silver, etc. 3) sex 4) country and region 5) if deceased,identify apparent cause of death; if living please express my 'duhk!'s to them. As I said in the news group, lots and lots of data would be good (law of large numbers). I have responses on only seventy ferrets so far, but it may be that the least I can get by with is between 350 to 2100. I hope to extract averages, perhaps correlations with region, sex, and color from data collected from individuals and vets. A. [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1804]