I cannot express the broken heartedness I feel for Kodo and his family. The feelings are there, just no words for them. I am writing this after attempting to read the FML dedicated to Kodo's memory. I got about 70% through when I decided I need to focus on something positive for a minute. I can't handle the pain right now. I have been trying for the last two days to get a hold of our county's animal ward to ask him about ferret bite cases he may have delt with. He called me back today with good news. He said he has always been instructed in the past to treat them as they do hamster bites. This does not even involve a quarantine. He said the owners are simply responsible for watching for any strange behavior in the ferret that might indicate rabies for at least 10 days. What a relief! I had never heard anyone on the list say anything about how Illinois handled these issues before. Of course he was quick to inform me that there is an USDA approved vaccination for ferrets. And I was quick to inform him that ALL my ferrets have theirs. ;) I am in the process of doing a little more research on this topic. He gave me the name of a doctor in Springfield I could call for more information. I was curious if Illinois has an official written policy/law stating this is how ferrets are to be handled, or if they just came to the conclusion mutually that it was the right thing to do. Anyway, I just thought I would let any Illinois residents that were unsure know what I had found out. If there is someone out there that has already researched these issues for Illinois please let me know what you have found out. For Kodo's family: My thoughts, prayers, (and donations) are on there way to you. Even though Kodo could not be spared you have sparked a flame in our ferret community that has the chance to make some remarkable changes take place. Keep the Faith, Serra (and Ringo, Niki, Chili, Dexter, and Whitie) [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML issue 1970]