Siani, I would like to suggest that you include a statistical comparison in your article concerning the number of children attacked by dogs each year vs. the number of children attacked by ferrets. I think that would really put things in perspective. Be sure to normalize the numbers to account for the fact that there are so many more pet dogs than pet ferrets, i.e. report the number of dog-child attacks per million dogs, vs the number of ferret-child attacks per million ferrets. I calculated this out about 4 years ago and posted it to the FML. I used statistics compiled by someone else who used statistics from the American Journal of Veterinary Medicine (I think it was them), and I determined that you were 200 times more likely to be attacked by the average strange dog than by the average strange ferret. If you would like, email me and I will try to find the exact references for you. You will probably want to recalculate based on more recent stats. Personally, I would also love to see a comprehensive survey of the facts surrounding each of the reported child maulings, the actual police report, the home environment, any previous or following reports of child or pet abuse, etc. The media jumps on these stories minutes after child's parents start screaming "ferret attack", but never bother to actually follow up and determine the facts for themselves. First off, I don't think that there have been that many attacks, and secondly, I don't believe that any of them are simply due to the vicious nature of ferrets. I believe, like most of the horrible stories on the news, that its not that ferret-baby attacks are common, but that we all hear, with much sensationalism and hand waving, about EVERY SINGLE ONE precisely because they are rare. "Dog Attacks Child" or "Neglected Child Injured" are not nearly as interesting headlines as "Ferret Attacks Child". Use the Bob Church example (although you might want to avoid the bad puns), list the facts, site your references, and use science not hearsay. Its easy for the media to stand up and say "ferrets are bad" and its just as easy for us to say "No they aren't," but none of it means anything until someone has some actual evidence to report. Some good hard facts could go a long way to relieving all this anti-ferret hysteria. Good luck with the article Norris Mom to Gunther and Ozzie and the now departed, and much missed, Nico P.S. In the interest of facts, is it really true that ferrets use their mouths for exploring more than dogs? I don't know either way, but I figure there are some experts in FML-land that might know for sure. [Posted in FML issue 2736]