Ferret Bites Baby's Fingers

[FireDancer7905]

I couldn't bear to watch the vid, but my heart is breaking for that poor little one. Reading through the thread, I feel obliged to point out the error of this statement:

Everyone knows what animals (cats, rodents,etc...) have been known to do to sleeping babies, because of the scent in their mouth.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/catsuck.asp

As explained in the above link, this is a completely false idea based off of superstitions about cats.

It makes sense to keep animals out of a baby's sleeping space, if you can. My cats wanted nothing to do with my daughter from when she came home up until she started being able to give them treats about 2 months ago (she'll be 2 in March). The cats slept with us until Sherry was in her big girl bed about month ago, and now they sleep at the end of her bed. The new baby's crib will be in the same room, and I am not worried in the least. They'll stay at the foot of dd's bed or come back to sleep at the foot of my bed. Only you know your animals, their temperaments, and how well they were/were not trained.

~Brandy

 

[justahannah]

Ferrets have been domesticated for a few thousand years, used by people to hunt rodents and rabbits, they're just like cats and dogs as far as being a carnivore we've trained to be dependent on us for their survival. I've had ferrets for years, and they imprint at a very young age on what food is...even introducing a different brand of kibble can be a major fight, let alone getting them to eat meat. I honestly think this animal must have been starved for its instincts to kick in like that, and the parents on something to leave it unattended with the child AND sleep through the screaming. Even adjusted for numbers of pets owned, statsitics show ferrets are about a thousand times less likely to cause injury than a dog, with only 13 attacks recorded in the US ever vs hundreds of dog bites every year. Any animal has the potential to be dangerous and any parent that leaves one with unsupervised access to a baby ("sleeping" next to a baby left on the floor in easy reach of said critter is not supervised) isn't fit to be a parent or pet owner in my book.

 

[Inka4040]

never have stupid drunken behavior btw....i can restrain myself from excessive drinking easily.

and as far as the sun goes, haven't had a sunburn in years since I am in control of where I am.

I am not in control of asinine animals being allowed as pets for asinine parents to mismanage.

Love this current trend to be afraid to lay blame where blame is due. It may be on several, but it is still there.

Wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings in this PC world....lmao.

And clearly, the common thread in all of these situations, is YOU! Seriously dude, you're doing a pretty good job of proving my point, despite what you may actually be arguing for. Let's analyze this from an aquarist perspective. There are a large amount of fish that many people on this forum keep, that in certain circumstances, could cause major bodily harm to the keepers. Just to name a few, lionfish, waspfish, piranha, triggers, surgeon fish, a good number of catfish... If you happen to get injured by one of these fish, clearly the fault lies with you, and not the animal that's just acting on instinct. The ferret didn't choose to be put in the care of that family. It had no ownership over the situation it found itself in. It merely acted on available opportunities. It's ludicrous that someone would seek to blame the animal, when clearly the entire weight of the situation lays with the people who enabled the ferret and that child to meet under those circumstances.

 

[The Zigman]

I really have a hard time believing that the ferret ATE 7 FINGERS from this poor kid before the parents woke up... They seriously need to test the parents for narcotics because they had to be passed out or something...

and whether is was a ferret, lionfish, dog, mountain lion, Boa constictor, muskrat, angry beaver, wallaby, hamster, chichilla or even a pet rhino, or a horse, buro, monkey or even a bobcat, the parents are to blame for this...

 

[Rbishop]

And clearly, the common thread in all of these situations, is YOU! Seriously dude, you're doing a pretty good job of proving my point, despite what you may actually be arguing for. Let's analyze this from an aquarist perspective. There are a large amount of fish that many people on this forum keep, that in certain circumstances, could cause major bodily harm to the keepers. Just to name a few, lionfish, waspfish, piranha, triggers, surgeon fish, a good number of catfish... If you happen to get injured by one of these fish, clearly the fault lies with you, and not the animal that's just acting on instinct. The ferret didn't choose to be put in the care of that family. It had no ownership over the situation it found itself in. It merely acted on available opportunities. It's ludicrous that someone would seek to blame the animal, when clearly the entire weight of the situation lays with the people who enabled the ferret and that child to meet under those circumstances.

You crack me up!

 

[Saraswati828]

I couldn't bear to watch the vid, but my heart is breaking for that poor little one. Reading through the thread, I feel obliged to point out the error of this statement:



http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/catsuck.asp

As explained in the above link, this is a completely false idea based off of superstitions about cats.

It makes sense to keep animals out of a baby's sleeping space, if you can. My cats wanted nothing to do with my daughter from when she came home up until she started being able to give them treats about 2 months ago (she'll be 2 in March). The cats slept with us until Sherry was in her big girl bed about month ago, and now they sleep at the end of her bed. The new baby's crib will be in the same room, and I am not worried in the least. They'll stay at the foot of dd's bed or come back to sleep at the foot of my bed. Only you know your animals, their temperaments, and how well they were/were not trained.

~Brandy

Ok maybe snopes thinks that cats are ok with babies but no one will ever convince me that it is ok to lay a 5-12lbs weight on your babies chest and leave it there for an indeterminate amount of time. I found my cat asleep on top of my daughter when she was a few weeks old. I was mortified, we lived in a home with no doors to the bed rooms so all I was left to do was watch diligently. Babies are warm they smell sweet and are soft and comfortable, if I was a cat that is exactly where I would want to lay.

Weighing in on the ferret position, I think all of the blame is on the parents. ALL of it. It is not the animal's fault, I just think this is an example of bad parenting at its worst.

 

[Saraswati828]

Ferrets have been domesticated for a few thousand years, used by people to hunt rodents and rabbits, they're just like cats and dogs as far as being a carnivore we've trained to be dependent on us for their survival. I've had ferrets for years, and they imprint at a very young age on what food is...even introducing a different brand of kibble can be a major fight, let alone getting them to eat meat. I honestly think this animal must have been starved for its instincts to kick in like that, and the parents on something to leave it unattended with the child AND sleep through the screaming. Even adjusted for numbers of pets owned, statsitics show ferrets are about a thousand times less likely to cause injury than a dog, with only 13 attacks recorded in the US ever vs hundreds of dog bites every year. Any animal has the potential to be dangerous and any parent that leaves one with unsupervised access to a baby ("sleeping" next to a baby left on the floor in easy reach of said critter is not supervised) isn't fit to be a parent or pet owner in my book.

I agree with you except for your statistics there, if every ferret owner reported every time their ferret bit them and brought blood, or even every time their ferret bit someone else and brought blood, I think those statistics would be a bit different. Also you are right ferrets have been domesticated for about 2,500 years but dogs have been domesticated for over 15,000 years. I guarantee no one in your local neighborhood watch will turn you in to the sheriff's department for having an unruly ferret that came to the door and stared at them or yipped as they passed. ......in fact I would love to hear that call :rofl:

 

[bgourami320]

O-M-G! What a horrible thing to happen to that baby! Those parents should be put up against a wall and shot. I believe they had to be on drugs not to hear their baby crying and screaming, I would hear when my kids turned in their sleep and get up and check them,jeez! Any animal should not be left to roam the house when you have a baby and can't keep an eye on it. My dogs were always trained to the max and were never allowed near my kids when they were babies unless I was around, period. What is wrong with people, these are animals, even your little lapdog can take a bite out of someone. Who knows what gets into their heads at times!

 

[Lady G]

O-M-G! What a horrible thing to happen to that baby! Those parents should be put up against a wall and shot. I believe they had to be on drugs not to hear their baby crying and screaming, I would hear when my kids turned in their sleep and get up and check them,jeez! Any animal should not be left to roam the house when you have a baby and can't keep an eye on it. My dogs were always trained to the max and were never allowed near my kids when they were babies unless I was around, period. What is wrong with people, these are animals, even your little lapdog can take a bite out of someone. Who knows what gets into their heads at times!

I agree they had to be on something....I mean really, that baby had to be SCREAMING, for them not to hear it is just amazing to me!!

 

[Ballyhoo]

I agree they had to be on something....I mean really, that baby had to be SCREAMING, for them not to hear it is just amazing to me!!

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