One quick note re: >But BIG would like for this to be a forum about ferrets. It's not what "BIG would like"; it's what it IS! This is and has always been a forum specifically about ferrets and the people who love them. Having been hanging around since before it began I can tell you that it was always designed that way even before Chris Lewis first got it up and running, and before Bill became the second moderator (and an EXCELLENT one), back when people were discussing their needs. It is a broad forum WITHIN the topic matter, but it IS the FML for excellent reasons, rather than being the EML (Everything Mailing List). To top it off -- it WORKS! As the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." In his job Steve has to study Internet groups which work, and some of his co-workers include Internet Sociologists, Internet Psychologists, and Internet Anthropologists. (Hey, Bonnie, Steve and Steve and Steve if you are looking at this, "Hello!".) Did you know that groups over 1,000 to 1,500 (more usually in the lower number range) are typically unstable, or that the average Internet mailing list lasts only about 3 to 4 years? The FML is actually STUDIED as one of the rarest of the rare: a HUGE group (now over 3,000) which has a long continuous history (something like 12 and 1/2 years currently if I remember properly when I was in Florida for the tenth anniversary. 11 1/2? Bill?). [11 1/2. BIG] It also has been cited for its importance in improving ferret care and ferret veterinary care, and for its rapid responses in situations needing that (slowing the spread of ECE, stopping the spread of the mutant coccidea, helping UAN EARs, etc.). Furthermore, it has been a very effective tool in changing legislation to favor ferrets. (I still personally think that some of the cases in which there has been flame-baiting are done by anti-ferret people trying to cause dissention within a foe which scares them.) EVERY member of the FML is a valuable member of one of the BEST and MOST SUCCESSFUL lists on the Internet, and we all have reasons too numerous to be grateful for this format which worked in the past, continues to work, and therefore is very likely will continue to be a force to help ferrets for a good while to come if the same fair and even-handed procedures continue. Hey, we're all great, what can I say?!? [Posted in FML issue 2695]