I've gotten way behind on reading my FML's, but I have seen a few posts apparently on the subject of ferrets & children, and I take it that someone's original post that started the thread must have been saying that ferrets and kids don't mix. I think it depends totally on the individuals involved- small human individuals as well as the ferret individuals. I have a five year old daughter who is such a baby about pain that she cries over invisible "owies". I also have five ferrets. I've never had the slightest bit of a problem with any of them together. I trust my daughter completely to be nice to the ferrets and to hold them carefully and to play nicely with them. I also trust my ferrets with her completely. Not one of them has ever offered to show a tooth to any of us for any reason, not even playing; of course, they were all over a year old when I got them, so maybe it would have been a different story if I had of gotten kits. But, these ferrets and my daughter are really good together. Tanker... he jumps on us sometimes, and he does have the sharpest little claws imagineable! He's left claw marks on all of us at least once with his "guerilla" tactics, but even that doesn't make my little girl afraid of him, or dislike him. I just felt compelled to write, though, because I've never understood the whole idea of refusing to let a small child have a pet because of their age. Truly, it depends on the individuals!!! I know I waited until she was four to get a ferret because I had always heard that they bite and are not suitable for children, and I was afraid if I got one, it would hurt her. Even with her at four, everyone discouraged me from getting my first ferret. If I had known then what I know now, I would have gotten one at least two years earlier! This reminds me of my local animal shelter, too. They refuse to even adopt out a puppy or kitten to a home with a child under the age of six in it! That's just stereotyping kids, to me, when in fact they are as different from one another as adults are. I'm not just being blind to the bad ones, either. In fact, when my roommates kids are over to visit, I don't even like to let the ferrets out of their cages, because I fear for their safety and happiness; I might let them out for a little while if the eight-year-old is there alone, although she's not nearly as responsible around them as my five-year-old is, but if his four-year-old daughter is there -- no way!!! No way will I let my ferrets be exposed to that uncivilized creature. I don't like having my daughter exposed to them either, but at least I don't have to fear for her life around them. So, there again, I believe it's totally up to the individuals involved as to whether ferrets & children mix successfully. Vickie, daughter Tori, ferrets Tank (Tanker-boy, the Great White, Dirty White Boy), Diva (Baby Dee-dee), Pandora (I can't say on here what else we call her!), Flower (The Flower-Power), Moogie (Moogers), dogs Ogrefin Thunderpup and as-yet-unnamed puppy-to-come, and cats Subatai the Valiant and Hannibal the Cannibal [Posted in FML issue 2631]