For Debra Thomason in Texas: am I missing something? What has been gained by the city of Fort Worthless enacting legislation requiring FERRET LICENSING? Yes I understand now that ferrets are included in all the control stuff with dogs and cats and some other animules, but I'm curious if you can tell us specifically, how the ferret, or its owner is benefited by the requirement that the ferret be licensed? Also it appears that the city shelter will adopt out INTACT, NON-NEUTERED ferrets to whomever for $40 apiece, and will not necessarily provide the unlucky adopter any detailed informantion on the nurturing and handling of such a ferret??? Does this sound too smart? Do you know the logistics of just how a ferret is going to have to be collared and wear a license/rabies tag? I can tell from personal experience, that in order for that collar to stay on the ferret, especially with a dangling metal tag, its gotta be very tight or the ferret will get it off one way or another. If the ferret can't get it off, it's likely a death sentence, because sooner or later when he's lost and out wandering around he'll hang himself to death. Hopefully the city will reduce the size of the license/rabies tag for the ferret. Let us know how this works out, because I am of the opinion that there's "gonna be trouble in River City" with this deal. For Ela Heyn: There are two concentrations of SEVIN: A 5 % and a 10% concentration. Remember that I emphasized that only the 5% carbaryl powder be used for heavy flea infestation control and that any sensible person who uses an insecticide has got enough 'twixt his ears to read the handling instructions on the container before using the flea powder. May I please tell you and others that this compound was recommended to me by Doctor Maggie Ryland, a well published expert ferret vet, so I'm certainly not advocating a treatment that has not been sanctioned by a professional with more knowledge about this subject than I have. I have used SEVIN 5 for flea control for the past 10 years with no ill effects noted either on the treated ferrets or myself. However if you prefer not to use it, as do I based on a highly respected vet's recommendation and 10 years of success, hell I don't care. Don't. I should hope that the FML readers will realize your negativity on this subject is straight out of the literature and not based one wit on your personal experience. Further not once in your alarmist discourse is the word ferret ever mentioned. What you have posted applies to human beings and not ferrets . . . am I correct? By the way, what do you use? You didn't say. R.Roller's posting on his sanctioned killing of an aplastic anemic (AA) jill, his assumption that all the breeders he knows are money-hungry jerks, and that Marshall Farms is doing a wonderful job educating the purchaser of their critters ... wellll, me thinks he's laying it on a bit thick when he writes, "sparing her anymore pain and suffering," we had to kill her. Believe it or not folks, killing an AA jill, out of perceived mercy, is unfortunate, and it's certainly not necessary. Jills in the terminal phase of AA, at least the ones I've experienced, die in a quiet, peaceful sleep-like coma. Their body tissues, including the brain, and especially the brain, are progressively poisoned by elevated levels of the oxides of carbon and the concurrent deprivation of molecular oxygen. This dualistic and and double-edged death-creep is a function of the severely depressed red blood cell count resulting from the effects of estrogen poisoning of the bone marrow. The blood colors to lemonade hue. The little girl cannot turn off her estrogenic secretions until some 24 to 36 hours postcoital; so in effect, no sex means a slow death over time for most female ferrets (But not all.) Let me tell you that this happens to Marshall Farms ferrets as well, due to their (I'll be nice here) quality control "slippage." We've had 5 MF jills out here in Seattle over the years that had been improperly spayed. All 5 died and 3 of the 5 that we opened had remnants of ovarian tissue remaining within the body cavity. MF quality control "slippage." As far as MF providing quality care info to their customers, as you say they do ... well WOW! That's news to me. Could you be thinking of that little 3-fold pamphlet they sometimes put out to the pet stores, that may or may not get into the hands of the customer? If so, do you consider that (advertisement for MF products primarily) good info??? May I suggest that as a responsible shelter operator, consider doing what we do here at Ferrets NorthWest FNW. Obtain 2 or 3 vasectomized males to help take these little girls out of estrus if it's not too late when you get them. This also provides a natural birth control service to the local ferret community, and if you wish, charge a nominal fee for aspermically studding these vips to estral jills brought in by your previous customers. Please, if you need some help on getting started in this highly benefical effort to hold down ferret overpopulation (Yea, like that's going to happen with some high percentage of MF ferrets dying of cancer every year) please let me know and I'll be glad to tell you all the mistakes we made here. [Posted in FML issue 2386]