Hi All, Ok, I give up, can't keep my big mouth quiet. That piker in Missouri wrote yesterday: >Bob -- I thought I was pretty good in the "animal knowledge" department for >a layman (or woman) but what are "moongeese"? LOL Also I have a serious >question -- is it really mongeese as a plural or mongoose, like moose? > > Maggie -- since when is Sampson a LIGHT nipper??? First off Otter, there is a rare life form unique to this area, moongoose. The male of the species is known to drive red cars and honk the horn before dropping his pants. The female differs in the aspect of car color, she is known to drive a white car. LOL!!! And even though you may not agree, due to past experience, Sampson is now a light nipper. He *used* to pierce my lips. You only got a couple of small puncture wounds on the chin. hehe. As for muscles and bones-a few years back I was discussing domestication with a retired physician friend of mine. He is in his 90's and started practicing medicine when we only had 5 specific drugs. He told me he had seen similar changes (like those in the domestication process) in bone development in humans over the years. As men quit doing as much manual labor, his patients would show less and less bone density and strength. This is all due to the affect muscles have on the bone. One caveat to all of this- Robert Church had talked about ferrets jumping and then hanging onto things with their front feet. Well, Nicky has adapted a somewhat different strategy. He is my boy who has the spinal injury and resulting loss of complete use of his hind legs. He can't jump up to things, so he using his front legs to pull himself up from the floor. He can get onto my bed this way, and it is taller than the norm. Plus, after thinking about how this all affects muscles and bones, it may explain his unique gate. When he trots, his front legs swing out before going forward. Perhaps this is due to over development of his front end? I am certainly no expert in this, just a learned civilian. Perhaps Robert can postulate on this, he is familiar with Nicky. And Alicia, have a couple of observations about horses and rabies. Actually, the Imrab 3 vaccine is approved for use in horses. I used to use it. Rabies is not something you really have to worry about in horses. Although some horses do bite, they have to really chomp down to break the skin. They have flat teeth. And trust me, I know they are strong enough having been "gotten" by a few in my time, but none has ever broken my skin. Plus you are assuming that a rapid animal can get close enough to bite the horse in the first place. A horses main defence is kicking- they will kick out at animals and people before trying to bite. I am not saying your point is wrong, but my opinion is that the arguement is meaningless here. You are trying to compare carnivores and herbivores, and I am sure the latter has a miniscule history of spreading rabies. I also understand that ferrets cannot spread rabies, even if infected. But what we are fighting is generalities and perception. No one is afraid a horse is going to run up and bite them. We need to stick to basic arguements and facts, not try to dilute with irrelevant stories. Maggie Mae and the Mid Missouri Mustelid Mob of 20, not a piker -- ...without communication there is no community. Community depends on shared experience and emotion, the communication enters into and clarifies the sharing. Ralph Ross [Posted in FML issue 2073]