This short and highly opinionated sketch is contributed to the list for your amusement, digestion, disgust, argument and thought - what ever strikes your fancy, Pilgrim. It is my response to a querry from a distinguished reader. Dear (name omitted), The leather harnesses are English made and they certainly do know how to make good ferret harnesses. The leather harnesses I have are about 7 to 10 years old and are unfortunately no longer available in the USA. Currently nearly all the Figure-8 harnesses are made of nylon webbing and unfortunately the "slipperyness" of the nylon in relation to the ferret's fur requires one to put on the harness so very tight compared to putting on the leather one, that the ferret is less than happy when you finally get the nylon one fitted properly. As you may gather from what I wrote previously, the ferrets are tethered outside all day and are not constantly watched, since it is so very unusual that any ferret ever gets out of his harness. Once in a great while it happens, but not very often. On the other hand with the nylon harnesses, if it's put on to the same tightness of the leather one, the ferrets are out of them in a short time. So to ensure that the nylon harness is escape-proof they have to be put on a bit tighter than the leather ones. And, being so tight, the ferrets are unhappy, especially at first. In addition the nylon harness is a pain in the "you know where" when you need to adjust its size to the different sized ferrets by putting more holes in the strap. You can't use a leather punch like you can with the leather harnesses, and it's so easy compared to putting holes in the nylon ones. In the nylon ones you have to burn holes in the strap with a heated nail or awl and when you look on the underside of the strap, each hole has a little doughnut-like ring sticking out that is so darn irritating when you are trying to put the ferret in the harness, because each raised doughnut of hardened melted nylon then catches on the edge of the metal buckle. Boy-o-boy, talk about frustrating! As you may guess, I'm not particularly keen on the nylon harness. I agree with the English ferreters that you just can't beat the leather Figure-8 one. It's far superior to the nylon because it's not as "slippery" as the webbed nylon. And it's so much easier to punch holes in it for the different sized ferrets (if you have more than one and they are different sized). If you are interested, I am so darn unhappy with the ferret harnesses now on the market that I'm thinking very seriously of manufacturing them myself. Etched into the harness strap I could put in your name and phone number or other identification so that if the ferret escaped and was still in harness, it could be returned to you hopefully. Of course, being of Polish/Hungarian/German ancestry I'd have to charge you an unmercifully high price! Yuk, yuk. Am so glad you gave me this opportunity to talk to you and I wish you the best. Edward Lipinski Ferrets NorthWest FNW Aller Anfang ist schwer. [G.] Just getting started is half the battle. [Posted in FML issue 2645]