OK, my turn. With all the discussion lately about whether or not all ferrets bite, I'd like to tell you how we present the issue. We all know what the first few questions about ferrets are, & "Does it bite?" is always one of the 1st. The first thing I always tell people is that it has teeth, & anything that has teeth *can* bite - even a 2 year old child. The next point that is driven home is that ferrets are no more likely to bite than a cat or dog. I always make the distinction between pets that have been well socialized & cared for, to those that have been neglected or abused, because the greatest influence on a pet's personality is how its been treated & what it's had to endure. Most people can relate to how a tortured creature will lash out in self defense, understandably so. So now they understand that anything with teeth has the potential to bite, but not necessarily the propensity. With that said, how exactly do you define a bite? I define a *bite* as a deliberate attempt to inflict injury/pain by sinking teeth deep into flesh - for whatever reason - justified or not. A creature in pain will bite in an attempt to eliminate the source of the pain. It will also bite in an attempt to prevent what it perceives as a threat. In cases like these is a bite deliberate? Yes, but in my consideration it's also justified. I do not consider my woozle running over & pinching my foot with its mouth to get my attention because he wants to play... *biting.* And neither does my husband as he endures my little jill sitting contentedly on his shoulder chewing on his ear lobe. We use a more gentle terminology like nipping or tasting, & describe them as being mouthy. It occurs to me that this entire debate about biting may be a matter of semantics. It's such a sensitive issue because we are owned by ferrets & have to be concerned about negative publicity. Reality is that some ferrets never bite under any circumstances (I've been owned by quite a few), while others will never be broken of the unacceptable habit. I think we can all agree that most well-adjusted fritters fall somewhere in between. It really is as unrealistic to say that all ferrets bite, as it is to say that they never do - even if yours never do. We are fuzzy embassadors to the rest of the unenlightened ferretless world. We have to be as honest & accurate as we expect them to be. LONG LIVE KODO Juliana Frodo, Rocks, Anola Gay, SNAFU, FUBAR, Tabu, Chaos, Tuxedo, Bijou, Fiasco, & Dazzle [Posted in FML issue 2189]