As many of you know.. i am only a lurker on the FML. I rarely post unless something either really intrests me, irritates me, or something kewl really happens. I am also friends with Kym Zorn, who i met right here on the FML and she helped me by adopting my baby Tink to me. I read her article yesterday, and have to say GO KYM. Being that i am only an observer, i find it very irritating all the flaming and the fact that someone would go to the extent to tell someone to get an abortion so they could keep the ferret! THATS REDICULOUS! (god forbid i say this but) why not put the ferrets to sleep?? isn't that the same as aborting the baby?? (we ferret people should band together and help Mia out not bash her!) And you know what?? I think that all this flaming makes our FML look horrible.. it turns off new comers and i feel like everyone should step back and re-think what you say. No one wants to post something if they are going to get flamed! The FML has taught me alot and i feel it should ENCOURAGE people to come and read and learn and not get flamed.. not everyone know's everything about ferrets (or any animal for that fact) encourage LEARNING not knocking people down because they don't know..obviously they want to know if they are here! As for Kym's Shelter.... It is GREAT that she volunteers her time and money into taking in ferrets that are neglected or sick (i have one of the neglects who is a VERY loving ferret) and placing them with the right people. I think more area's need people who volunteer their time and efforts to help ferrets. Yes many ferrets do meet bad fates.. but because of her.. i know of at least 12 (her 11 and one of mine)sweet little critters that have a WONDERFUL home and i know we've talked about several others. those are 12 that could have met worse fates! Kym is even generous enough to take my ferrets for this week while i fly back home to Maine to visit my family for Thanksgiving. Unfortunatly it cost too much to fly my kids back with me. I will miss them but i'm sure both of them will have more fun with their 11 cousins. I'm so glad to have kym as my friend and i'm so glad for the FML who helped us meet one another. I hope more Newbies will meet one another and have good experiences here. anyhow.. i must run.. i have to get up at 4:00am to catch my flight home.... Hope you all have a Wonderful Thanksgiving and i hope everyone will consider what i've said about trying harder to encourage questions rather then discourage them... communication is the key to a better world! Hillary, Tinkerbell, and Kabuki [Moderator's note: I can't help but point out that Mia was not flamed on the FML -- the only place we heard about 3 people telling Mia to get an abortion was from Mia herself. Now I'm not debating that flames were received, but we've never actually seen them -- how were they phrased? Was there a misunderstanding? Was one nasty jerk sending messages from several e-mail addresses? (This is by far the most likely scenario to me.) Time and time again we have seen the generosity and kindness of FML subscribers. Yet lately I've received many reports of ridiculous flames being received privately. These flames have not been forwarded to me so I have no idea if this is one person or several nor what, if any, pattern exists. Let's not allow what is probably one person spoil the FML for everyone -- this sick person seems to flame for the "delight" of it. The opinions expressed in such a manner hold no significance by my standards. I hope they will not be taken seriously by anyone else either. BIG] [Posted in FML issue 2875]