By accident, a ferret came into our lives. Someone wanted us to babysit her ferret. When she got home from her trip, she asked us if we wanted to keep him. By then we were thoroughly enamored of our little 'masked bandit'. He was so sweet, and not at all aggressive, as I had first thought.

On the morning I first met him, I was quite nervous. I was afraid that he'd be vicious, that he would bite. Nothing could be further from the truth. He peeked out at me, from inside his little house, looking as if he, too, was a bit nervous. That did it, as far as I was concerned. He could stay.

If you think a ferret is for you, try to find as much info as possible before you get one. There are books, and you might be able to find more info online.

Apparently we were lucky our ferret was a male. Females are more aggressive and difficult to keep in an apartment. I've only read about this, since we never owned a female ferret. Once I saw one, and she looked just as sweet as our boy, so I can't really say for sure.

Don't let a ferret near a rodent or a cage bird. In fact, it might be best not to let your ferret meet any other type of animal. A big dog might see a ferret as prey, just as ferrets consider rodents prey.