If this had been a cat or dog would that statement have been made? How would that statement make dogs and cats look in other peoples eyes? How many people still believe cats will suck the breath out of babies and Dobermans, Rotties, German Shepherds, Pit Bulls are all mean and don't make good companions? Do you see where I'm going with this? AND if this was a dog or cat the baby would have needed more than just 100 stitches and it would probably have not made national news (with 1-3 million dog bites a year wouldn't you think we'd hear about at least 1 incident? Did you hear about the 3 dogs that killed a little boy in Kansas late last year?). If, and I did say IF, the ferret did this, what was the cause? Could the sound a crying baby makes hurt a ferrets ears? Certain decibels of sound cause irritation in humans and other animals. Could the ferret have been trying to move the baby when it heard it crying? Even in their drunken state how could the parents not have heard the cries of the infant when it was laying between them? How was it determined the bites were from the ferret? Did the attending physician ask the parents what happened and did they say it was the ferret? Were other pets in the home? Was the neighborhood rat-infested? So many unanswered questions. As most of you know I share my home and life with many ferrets. The majority are from another way of life (including breeder ferrets that never knew the kindness of humans until they came to us) that included abuse/neglect/cruelty, etc. ALL of the ferrets are free roam and have access to me even when I'm sleeping or bathing. No closed doors in our home, except for the basement which is not ferret safe and contains furnace/ac, hot water heater, washer and dryer. The only time I'm in the basement is to do laundry. The rest of the time I'm home, I'm with the ferrets. NEVER have I seen or experienced a "killer instinct" in any of these ferrets. I work with biters. Even in the worst cases (we've had some severe abuse/neglect cases) I've only experienced fear bites. In the beginning, Killer (Killer was from the Fredonia bunch and happily lives with Lynda) use to charge if you got too close. This was his scare tactic. It worked with the man-breeder that had him before he came to us. Killer is now the same as all our other loving ferrets. He cuddles and kisses and craves human interaction. Rusty is also a breeder ferret. He would bite terribly hard when he was picked up because he related hands to pain. These were fear bites, not aggression or killer instinct bites. Now Rusty is as sweet as any ferret and tolerates my several times daily hugs, kisses, and cuddles. His greatest joy is to cruise through the house checking out the other ferrets to see if any newcomers have arrived. :-) Years ago we lived in a mobile home surrounded by pastures. Field mice regularly moved into our home, taking the liberty to eat and drink out of the same bowls and water bottles the ferrets did (not at the same time though). The ferrets didn't mind one bit. One time I found a baby hairless mouse in the same bed as 3 ferrets. The mouse must have fallen from a cabinet when momma mouse moved it and it just happened to land in the back part of a ferret bed. The ferrets, all 3 of them, were sleeping soundly at the front of the bed and the baby mouse was sleeping soundly in the back. Another time Marley found a big mouse and when he'd pick it up the mouse would squeak so he'd put it back down. I'm sure the mouse was confused as I think Marley only wanted to place it with the rest of his stashed socks and toys and the mouse probably thought it was going to be killed. No, Marley didn't harm the mouse. Of course we've all heard the stories of ferrets that had gotten in to gerbil, mouse, hamster cages and made quick work of the littler critters. In my personal view, it is only human animals that have a true killer instinct. We plan and kill our prey and sometimes we kill without the plan. While the majority of us refrain from doing so, the instinct is still there (ever been so angry for a fleeting second you wanted to kill someone). Hugs to all. tle [Posted in FML issue 2229]