i think my feret is hurt

i went to get gizmo out of cage to feed him and his nail was caught in the towel he sleeps in a course he pananaked
and he may a tore nail off i sure hope he is ok. no blood at all that i see and he is eating like always lol he is pig obtw big fun try to get a ferrets nail of a towel wehn its scared lol i was sure he was going to bite me he didnt though

ok i think he is ok now he is being his silly self but man he scared me

Good to hear He is alright Raggie.
Topper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Glad to hear he is okay! Our kitties are always having claw-related incidents. One recently pulled a claw completely out during a scuffle with another cat!

raggie your ferret has to have the best caretaker/friend going.

Raggie,

Ferret's nails have a blood vessel running through the base. I would occasionally catch one while trimming them. A small bit of blood, but no perminant damage. I learned that it happened less if I kept their nails properly trimmed.

Raggie:
You might find it handy to get a little bottle of "Kwik Stop" (I think that's the spelling). It's a nasty looking green powder that will stop bleeding in a flash...and it's painless (ask me how I know /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif)

It's great to have in a minor emergency with your pet. You should be able to pick it up in any large pet store.

Glad your furry friend is better!

Ferrets are illegal in Cali, so I've never played with one, but if the claws are like most otehr animals, there's going to be a small blood vessel in it. If the claw broke and there was no blood, I'd say he's a-o.k. (in my non-expert opinion).

-dan

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dano said:
Ferrets are illegal in Cali

-dan

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I am curious, Why the california is illegal being to have a pet ferret?

I think it's because if they escape they chew up the fields.

Do they still have fields in California?

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I have to wonder why everyone thinks that all government agencies are evil and, at the same time, inept. In general, the government is full of good people just like you and I who are simply trying to do a good job.

Now as to the estimated 1 million ferets in California....

There's about 20 million people in CA. I don't think that 1 in every twenty people have ferrets. In my whole life I've known 1 person who had one. That's 1 out of maybe 500 homes or 1 in 2,000 people. That gives you about 10,000 ferrets statewide. It seems more reasonable.

You can no longer bring small turtles or small alligators into CA either. Why? because they were bought a 'toys' and turned loose when they grew too big and stoped being cute. The turtles have, in some cases, overrun local aquatic ecologies. The aligators, being released into the wild (or sewer) without mates have not reproduced.

Through out the world, there are instances of ecologies that have been decimated by the introduction of harmless animals. The rabbit plague of Austrailia is but one example. Personally, I don't want my cat to tangle with a wild and hungry ferret. It's bad enough that they have to cope with people, racoons, dogs and other (sometimes feral) cats.

Daniel

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Hmmm, This is the first time I've been told I look like an idiot in a long time. I think it takes a lot of brass to make up figures about the ferret population and then accuse ME of making up facts. It was humerous, though, so no offense taken.

Even though we have bred one species of ferret to make it more domesticted, that does not mean that they can not live outside a human home. A domestic cat will fare badly when dropped off in the wild, but some do survive. It takes no leap of logic to conclude that if a colony of 7 or 8 were loose in a neighborhood park in a mild climate that they might learn to survive and even thrive.

You assert that no domestic ferret can live if it were to escape. Please let me know what magic nutrient we've bread these ferrets to need to survive. Is it a spceial amino acid? A special vitamin or mineral? In the town where I live a ferret would have to compete with cats, racoons, possums and the occasional bird of prey. The climate is temperate year round, so exactly why would a group of intelligent ferrets not survive?

You've suggested that I "head out to the real world more often." I have never thought of the San Fancisco area as being a backroads area, and some may even call it a metropolis. You should not assume that "Central Cal" means Bakersfield. The state is bigger than that.

I don't own a ferret, nor do I want to. I've raised kids, and that was chaotic enough. To invite a relative of a polecat into my house... just won't happen.

As for inept government, I've noticed that people who are antagonistic towards civil servants tend to get lousy results. That's just the cost of being obnoxious and pushy. I get very good service when I interact with the city and state employees. I don't seem to ever need to do anything with the feds, other than the IRS. The laws and regulations that these poor folks work with is a different matter. Some of the laws are just silly.

I don't care if you own a ferret, as long as you live where it's legal to do so.
As others have said; change the law, don't break it. If you absolutely have to own an illegal animal for some reason, move to somewhere that it's legal so you can ensure proper medical treatment. You don't want it executed if it escapes your house.

[tounge in cheek] Moving out of CA might also ensure that the inept postman or irate neighbor doesn't turn you in to the inept police who will have the inept animal control people confiscate you darling little pet. [/[tounge in cheek] Seriously, it would be a shame if your pet were killed because you wanted to to flout the law.

Daniel

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gadget_lover said:
Even though we have bred one species of ferret to make it more domesticted, that does not mean that they can not live outside a human home. A domestic cat will fare badly when dropped off in the wild, but some do survive. It takes no leap of logic to conclude that if a colony of 7 or 8 were loose in a neighborhood park in a mild climate that they might learn to survive and even thrive.

You assert that no domestic ferret can live if it were to escape. Please let me know what magic nutrient we've bread these ferrets to need to survive. Is it a spceial amino acid? A special vitamin or mineral? In the town where I live a ferret would have to compete with cats, racoons, possums and the occasional bird of prey. The climate is temperate year round, so exactly why would a group of intelligent ferrets not survive?

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You could use those hypotheticals with virtually any domesticated animal. Will my pet parakeet escape (assuming his wings aren't clipped), breed, thrive and start pecking the eyes out of all the other domesticated animals in the neighborhood? You use common sense, but I just personally think you make a lot of assumptions. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I think the subject matter is great, and opinions on reasonable and unreasonable regulation are thought provoking. We do need to tone down the personal attacks though. Let's keep the thread useful.

I think the difference between Ferrets and Parakeets is that 1) parakeets are known to survive in urban settings and 2) ferrets are known to have a propensity towards fighting and biting as well as being clever and 3) the natural enemies of the parakeet are known and plentiful.

If you google "ferret fighting" you will see about 42,000 links. Many of them explain why ferrets fight each other and why they bite people and other ferrets. I got a lot more when I googled 'cat fight', but those seemed to be primarily about fiesty women.

I have not found anything online that gives the rational behind banning ferrets in California. It could be that they are covered under the ban on owning "wild animals". That's the law that's supposed to protect wild animals from being trapped and "domesticated" be well meaning people. Someone, at some time, had a reason to say no to ferrets. Anyone have any info on the background for that decision?

Daniel

Daniel,
Although some of what Gman said may be conjecture, he does have a very good point that any ferret owner would agree on.

It is VERY, VERY unlikely that a domesticated ferret could survive for very long on its own in the wild. Domesticated ferrets are far too curious, wouldn't know the first thing to do for food, and have next to no sense of fear. There are just far too many things that could/would kill them, from an innocent-looking pipe that that happened to be full of water at the bottom (drowning), to just about any predatory animal.

"In the town where I live a ferret would have to compete with cats, racoons, possums and the occasional bird of prey."
<font color="red">Exactly.</font>

"I don't want my cat to tangle with a wild and hungry ferret" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

I have owned 4 ferrets during the course of the last 12 years. Not to mention I've also had a cat for the last 4 (while still having 2 ferrets). The two domesticated species do get along. However, a cat can easily get away from a ferret when it wants to. All it has to do is run away or jump up onto something; they're much faster and far more coordinated. Based on experience with both species, I don't have a doubt in my mind that a cat could easily kill a ferret. I would bet that only a LARGE ferret could do any harm (not kill) a SMALL cat, and I would even question that if the cat still had any of its claws.

I recommend that you have first-hand knowledge in an area such as this before getting into this kind of debate. Some of what you have said shows that you don't know what you're talking about, and you wind up looking foolish.

I know that I say all of this from a ferret owner's perspective, so it is likely jaded to a certain degree. I have attempted to stick to the facts as I see them from my experience with the animals. You'll either blow me off or you'll attack what I have said. If you read this carefully, you'll see that I am offering you a small bit of advice that only comes from experience. I've been there. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif Your action will speak for itself.

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I recommend that you have first-hand knowledge in an area such as this before getting into this kind of debate. Some of what you have said shows that you don't know what you're talking about, and you wind up looking foolish.

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If we had to wait till people had first hand knowledge of everything before rendering an opinion, very little would be said and people would never learn much.

I've learned from this thread;
1) Large ferrets are bigger than small cats.
2) Ferrets are more curious than they are smart.
3) The domesticated ferret is considered a different breed than the one that lives in the wild.
4) California bans the ownership of ferrets, yet a small, unknown number of people own them anyway.
5) Cats are more agile and faster than a ferret.
6) Ferret onwers tend to be defensive about their choice of pets. This is not unreasonable.

As a result of this thread, I have also looked around and foud a few other details.

7) Ferrets like to fight. They fight when cornered as well as for territory and for play and for other reasons.
8) Ferrets are considered by their owners to be masters of escape.
9) Inter-species (cat, dog, child) biting is not rare. Ferrets like to bite.

One does not have only the choice of disregarding a post or attacking. One can also absorb the informaton or give their viewpoint. I'm not sure what the 'debate' was, as my first post simply pointed out that GMAN chose an absurd number, and that most government employees are well meaning. It also pointed out an established case of extreme infestation by, of all things, bunnies. Nothing controvercial at all /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'm still wondering why CA has banned ferrets.

Daniel

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