Ed - just a couple of thoughts. I'm glad you have a complex sense of sarcasm regarding California and the ferret wierdness there. My concern though, is with the first part of your post. Whole male ferrets are not for everyone. Whole hobs can do a good job of turning the most open minded person off to ferrets entirely. Not every ferret owner wants to have everything in their home pee'd on as the male marks, or be greeted at the door with the distinct odor of Eau de Rutting Hob. Whole males generally don't mix well with other male ferrets, altered or not. Arranging one's life around a rutting hob can be an interesting challenge. As for leaving the female whole and leaving her with the male, yes, a vasectomised hob can certainly make sure she does not suffer from aplastic anemia, but it is questionable that the health risks that a whole female can be exposed to are worth the minor risks of altering her when she is mature. Also, not all males have the same timing as the jills that live in their home. Ideally, they do, but often as not, they don't. A cold or some other trauma can take the hob right out of season too. Either way, it could be a real concern for the ferret owner to have a jill in season and no hob to take her out. Hormone shots sometimes don't work or cause other problems. As for bonds between ferrets - ferrets of all sexes and fertility states develop close bonds. I don't think the sexual bond between a pair of ferrets is going to be any deeper then the bond between any ferrets that like each other. Anyone who has ferrets, but not whole ferrets is well advised to spend some time with a whole male in rut before even considering keeping one around UNLESS you are breeding and need him to take your jills out of season. I dunno, maybe the sarcasm in BOTH topics of your post went over my head. Ann [Posted in FML issue 2262]