# Ferret attack



## bikerchicspain (Apr 3, 2011)

Well guys, working with animals has it's dangers, Saturday night when most are partying I was in the ER,yes I was mauled by a ferret that I was taming.

It wasn't his fault.
I have been vetting anyone that was interested in him, his previous owner had him locked in a cage 24/7 for 4 years.
When they brought him to me he was savage, but within a week I had him eating out of my hand,
I have been working with since last week on not biting when provoked, he was brilliant,
He never attempted to bite me.
Then a lady came, she had, had ferrets before and she said she would carry on with his training
His name by the way was chuki.
When we got to the till he was ok and she asked me to put a harness on him,
Which I started to do, but for some reason she hit him and he lashed out on the first thing he could see ( my hand)

He bit in to me, but my hand swelled so quickly that the poor thing couldn't let go, he was trying but my h and swelled that much he couldn't.
My friend put a pair of scissors in his mouth to stop him closing his mouth, than I had to let him bite with the top of his jaw, so we could prize his bottom teath out.

Poor thing was covered in blood (mine) . I didn't panic or try to hurt him in any way. It was not his fault.

I asked them if they still wanted him and they said yes. Meanwhile I went into the vets and collapsed,

The ambulance came and took me to ER.

So I could be out of comission for a while.
Hope chuki is ok!


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## Tom (Apr 3, 2011)

Yvonne, I don't want to poke fun if you are serious, but do you guys have an "April Fools Day" over there in Spain?

Are we talking about a German Shepard or a "dirty little weasel" as my wife likes to affectionately call them? I have trained and dealt with nippy ferrets before, and been bitten lots of times, but I've never seen anyone have to go to the hospital for one. Wow.

If you really are serious, then I wish you a speedy recovery.


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## Torty Mom (Apr 3, 2011)

OMG Yvonne how scary!! Glad you are ok. How aweful!!! Did you have to get stitches or anything? Do they carry rabies? 

Why did she hit the ferrett?


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## ALDABRAMAN (Apr 3, 2011)

They are tough and usually defensive!


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## Laura (Apr 3, 2011)

i hope you are ok,, but it sounds a bit off.. your hand swelled so fast the ferret couldnt let go? 
She hit it? why? and they still took it home? 
Stories like this are why some states.. calif.. wont legalize them.. among other stupid reasons.. 

type more when you can!!


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## Maggie Cummings (Apr 3, 2011)

I sure hope you are OK Yvonne. It sounds awful. I have been bitten by Bob who won't let go no matter what I do, and the pain is awful. When you get better, please get that animal back from that lady, she doesn't deserve him...


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## bikerchicspain (Apr 3, 2011)

Tom i too have been dealing with ferrets for years, and gotten bitten in the process,but never this bad. Unfortunately he he bit me about 15 times that i counted and deep ones, it was only about 4 mins long.
Hasn't put me of them, 
I will carry on as normal its not the first bite and it wont be the last, I am actually trying to think of an animal in a pets shop that hasn't bitten me. The last 2 were a german shepherd (tom that was the third shepherd bite) and a Boa.

No broken bones but i do have swelling around the tendons and muscle damage,
Not sure why my hand swelled so quickly.
I think it was blood that couldn't get out because he couldn't get his teeth out, 
Everyone asks me why i didn't throttle him, reason being that i could see him trying to let go. 

I know i should not have let her take him but i wasnt thinking straight, afterwards i kept saying hows the ferret and what will happen to him..


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## Jacqui (Apr 3, 2011)

Glad it was not as serious as it could be. Am also glad my three ferrets can't read this, might give them ideas.  Not really, well atleast not the two males, but the female. Let's just say if she thinks she can get a bite in, she is game to try it.  Hasn't gotten me yet (knocking on my wooden head) and fortunately these days, she seldom any more even tries to bite anybody.


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## bikerchicspain (Apr 3, 2011)

I have had ferrets and they never attempted to bite, even in play.
But this one went for the kill as you'd say,
Because its a bite i cant have stitches, so ive got it all wrapped up and have to go to the docs everyday to get it clean.

They asked me at the ER if the ferret had been vaccinated against rabies and i told them that the ferret had more chance of catching something of me, Gotta keep smiling, until they start prodding then i swear.

I would never hurt an animal, I know it attacked me, but that is a ferrets natural behaviour, he was so good with me, I think i was too good and he only responded to me,
I always say if an animal doesn't trust someone then you shouldn't either.

live and learn..


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## Balboa (Apr 3, 2011)

My sympathies, sounds painful!

I can't say I"ve had as much experience as you and Tom, but I have had a couple ferrets over the years and just love them. Guess I've been lucky as I've never been bitten, I can imagine they can do some real damage though.


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## ALDABRAMAN (Apr 3, 2011)

Any bite should be cleaned and disinfected fast, infection is the worst part. I have been bitten by police dogs in training, the worst is the pressure. No permanent damage.


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## Laura (Apr 3, 2011)

if he was not vaccinated... be sure he is still alive 10 days after he bit you.. that is the normal quarantine for a bite here in the states.. Are you in contact with the person who took him?


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## Angi (Apr 3, 2011)

Ouch....sorry to hear you were hurt so bad.


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## bikerchicspain (Apr 4, 2011)

Haven't a clue where he's at.
But that doesn't concern me, I was bitten by a raccoon about 2 years back, it was less painful,lol

My own ferrets that I've had over the years have never bitten me, and at work I have been bitten by them a lot, as I was the one that had to tame them.

I love ferrets and it hasn't put me off.

But guys your right, bites clear up pretty quickly if there are no complications.
Thanks guys


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## harris (Apr 4, 2011)

The question of the day still remains......WHY DID SHE HIT HIM???


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## african cake queen (Apr 4, 2011)

hi , and good luck. lindy


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## bikerchicspain (Apr 4, 2011)

Don't know why she hit him, I was more concerned about getting him of my hand and getting it seen too


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## samclau07 (Apr 4, 2011)

bikerchicspain said:


> Don't know why she hit him, I was more concerned about getting him of my hand and getting it seen too



I rarely post on this forum, but read nearly all the posts. This thread is a little mind boggling for me, so I couldn't resist responding.

First off, I'm very sorry you were hurt, and I wish you a speedy recovery.

However, this woman hit the ferret and then you let her take him to live with her?! And yet in your signature you advocate for harsher punishments for animal cruelty? Isn't hitting an animal cruelty? But you still think she is the right person to care for this ferret? Seems slightly hypocritical.


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## bikerchicspain (Apr 5, 2011)

samclau07 said:


> bikerchicspain said:
> 
> 
> > Don't know why she hit him, I was more concerned about getting him of my hand and getting it seen too
> ...


If you was being attacked by an animal the last thing you are thinking about is 
why the person hit him in the first place,
I am not talking one bite, I am talking about several bites, serious enough for an 
ambulance to be called, so I'm sorry if I didn't hang around to take the ferret of 
her, or get her telephone number.
Hypothetically! If you was in a park and someone hit a pit bull and the dog turned
on the nearest person, the nearest being you! Whilst the animal is tearing into 
you skin would you stop and say that guy should not take that animal home! Or
would you be more concerned about your own safety?

Ferret wasn't concerned about being cruel to my hand,
It would of been easier and less painful for me to kill the animal, while he was biting, but I didnt, I was calm, until I saw the damage.


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## Angi (Apr 5, 2011)

What a horrible experiance for you Yvvone. I don't know anything about ferrets and have never seen one that was a pet. I have seen what i think are farrets that were turned lose or excaped running around and they are adorable. 
I would think you would have the ladies phone number. She must have contacted you somehow. Did she fill out paper work. I had to fill out a ton of paper work to be a foster parent to a poodle. I would also think she would be concerned about you and call, stop by the hospital or something to check on you. Did you get stitches? Is there going to be any damage to your hand?


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## Edna (Apr 5, 2011)

Bless your heart, Yvonne, for trying to work with that ferret. I have a strong preference for gentle animals that don't bite at all, ever. I hope you'll heal up quickly.


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## samclau07 (Apr 5, 2011)

bikerchicspain said:


> samclau07 said:
> 
> 
> > bikerchicspain said:
> ...



Maybe I misunderstood the original post. It sounded like you had the ferret and were adopting him out to this lady. If that is the case, I still don't understand why you would let her keep him after she hit him. Similarly, I don't understand how you wouldn't have your contact information. If she was adopting him, was the adoption finalized before/after the attack or did she steal the ferret? If I misunderstood the post, then I apologize.

Again, I am sorry you were injured, and I do understand needing to protect yourself. But it seems to me that you are now safe and recovering and it's troublesome that you aren't concerned about the animal's well-being since he is now being homed by someone who hit him.


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## Angi (Apr 5, 2011)

I would agree with Sam, but she may not have given us all the details, which I am very curios about. Also she my still by on meds and not thinking clearly. I know my brain doesn't work well on pain killers. 
Yvonne when you are feeling up to it several of us are very curios about the crazy and awful event you suffered through.


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## bikerchicspain (Apr 5, 2011)

Ok this is what happened,
I was brought the ferret 2 weeks befor hand by someone that had the animal caged for 4 years, taking into account that the average age of a ferret is 6, so I took it in and worked with him for 2 weeks solid, he was fine at being handled, but we were working on the provoked attack, basically I provoke him to see if he bites, if he does then he gets held by the scruff of the neck until the submissive yawn ( Tom u know what I mean) so it's basically teaching him that even provoked it is still wrong to bite,

I have been looking for a home for him with someone that has had ferrets before and knows how to educate them.

I asked her all the right questions, and she gave me all the right answers.
Satisfied with what she was saying we proceeded to the Till, she asked me to put his harness on, then we were going to do the relevant stuff like leave your name and number etc,

But when I was putting the harness on he did something and she smacked him on the nose with a couple of fingers,of which he didn't take to kindly to,

So he latched onto the first thing, my hand, when he realized it was me he tried to let go,
But because my hand swelled with blood so quickly he couldn't let go, so he was panicking,so his instinct was to keep biting, in the end we had to wait for his top teeth to bite into me again then hold his nose down so he couldn't get his top teeth out of my hand, making it possible to prize out his bottom teeth, then let go of his nose so he could release with his top teeth.

When this happened there was blood everywhere, his face was covered and so was I,
I went straight to the vets and asked for help, where I slumped on the floor in shock whilst having a panic attack, 
My hand was black from it swelling with blood and my nails were going blue, that's when the vets called for an ambulance,

Nobody got the details of the woman as they thought I had already got them, I am not sure if she has been back to see how I am as I am on sick leave due to swollen tendons, muscle damage and today my fingers started to go blue so I went to the ER 
and I have nerve damage.


Believe me whilst in the ER I was only thinking of chuki (ferret), hoping he was ok. 

Counted the bites and I have 29 puncture wounds....

If I could get chuki back I would in a flash, he was fine with me and we connected, he use to love his little walks and his tins of food, hopefully the woman will come in to get him vaccinated so I will be able to check on him...


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## dmarcus (Apr 5, 2011)

Well, it's good that you are okay Yvonne and things happen in a crisis situations and in all the excitement the most important thing is the health of the injured person. Hopefully the lady will come back in to get the vaccinations and you can see how the ferret is doing and collect all the information that was not collected...


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## bikerchicspain (Apr 16, 2011)

Update on chuki the ferret, 
The owners brought him in tonight and is doing very well,
I was able to handle him and play, and he never tried to nip let alone bite,
So know I feel a lot happier..


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## Edna (Apr 16, 2011)

bikerchicspain said:


> Update on chuki the ferret,
> The owners brought him in tonight and is doing very well,
> I was able to handle him and play, and he never tried to nip let alone bite,
> So know I feel a lot happier..



That is good to hear! I'm so glad they brought him in to see you, and that you could have some positive interaction with him


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## Jacqui (Apr 16, 2011)

That should put your mind to rest that you did the right thing letting them take him. Also now you have had a positive time with him which is good for you also on several levels. Now to make this a really good and happy ending, how are the bites healing?


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## bikerchicspain (Apr 17, 2011)

Oh they are fine, hand is still bruised, but that may be due to the fact that I got bit by a snake on Thursday on the same hand and in the same spot...

Whenever I go home with a plaster or bandage my kids always ask what animal has bitten me,


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## Squirtle Time (Apr 17, 2011)

Ouch I hope that you are ok. I'm glad that you were able to make Chuki more comfortable with you and that you didn't blame him. That is really gracious of you.


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## bikerchicspain (Apr 17, 2011)

I believe that there are no such thing as a nasty animal,

Animals that are nasty are like that for a reason, domestic animals being mis treated, an aggressive owner, a owner trying to teach a dog to attack with no experience of training,etc, etc

Wild animals because it's kill or be killed, let's face it, if a stranger walks into my house I would be on the defensive as well,

But at least chuki will have his last couple of years in a loving home where he runs all around the house,
Oh! And he hates going in his cage, can't blame him....


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