My immediate reaction is along the lines of "how would you like it if I pulled your wiskers!" More seriously though it sounds to me, as an owner, that its unecessary and drastic. We have five ferrets and three of them used to be biters - two seriously so. All are now non-biters as a result of continuous and gentle handling. They bite because they are scared or hurt, or were previously abused. One of our more serious biters came from Dick Bossarts shelter having been rescued from an abuser. It took three to six months to cure the biting. She is still a very nervous ferret and trembles with strangers or in strange surroundings. However, she is also one of the most affectionate ones with us. If you want to correct biting without making the ferret afraid of you try persistent and gentle handling. The only biting we get are occasional nips to attract attention, or during play. The nips are not strong and I treat them as no more than basic communication. We never get hard, defensive, skin piercing biting from any of them. [Posted in FML issue 1980]