Pet ferret makes a meal out of baby's fingers

Today, I decided to look up an odd bit of news I heard yesterday about awoman who was arrested for slapping a horse, but I stumbled on this in the process.

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A 4-month-old baby boy from Grain Valley, Missouri, was in critical condition after a family pet ferret ate seven of the infant's fingers, and the boy's parents are under investigation for neglect and failure to obtain a $100 license for the exotic pet, police chief Aaron Ambrose told CNN Tuesday.

I wasn't aware that ferrets counted as exotic pets, but that is neither here nor there. Moving on.

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The mother was awakened at 2:30 a.m. Monday to her baby's crying, and she awakened her husband with screams upon discovering what happened, Ambrose said.

So, the mother woke up and then woke the husband up - who was sleeping through his baby's screams - after she found out that ferret was chowing down. Why didn't she do something when she found out?

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The dad killed the pet by hurling it across the house, Ambrose said.

It wasn't just across a room, the dad threw that motherfucker through the very walls! But, I really don't approve of this, personally.

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The baby now has only two thumbs and a partial pinkie, the chief said. The ferret was about six months old, a police report said.

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"We're trying to figure out if this thing had a crate or a cage, or was it running around the house," Ambrose said. "It jumped into the rocker thing that the baby was sleeping in and ate seven of its fingers."

Bolding is mine. That's a very specialized police term, I'm sure.

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Upon seeing the ferret, the father "just grabbed it and threw it," Ambrose said. "It hit a dishwasher or cabinet or something like that."

Like I said through the walls of the baby's room or parents' room and right into the kitchen! Or something like that

Seriously, though, why wasn't the family able to hear the baby screaming as it became pet food? Was the baby in the kitchen? I'm sorry, I'm not a parent yet, so I don't know if leaving your baby's bassinet in the kitchen would be practical or not. I'm assuming not.

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In the recent past, animal control officers responded to complaints about the family's dogs, including a Rottweiler, Ambrose said.

Bolding is mine. I'm tired of dog breeds getting bad raps; it's obvious the parents are not suitable for having animals - and I would venture to say they're not that awesome candidates for parents if they didn't hear the baby crying when the ferret started eating the baby's fingers - so let's not include the breeds and leave it at the fact these two are just pisspoor pet-owners on top of, more than likely, being negligent in the care of their baby.

Edit: I know little to nothing about ferrets, but do they even eat meat?

Mugg wrote:

So, the mother woke up and then woke the husband up - who was sleeping through his baby's screams - after she found out that ferret was chowing down. Why didn't she do something when she found out?

4 months old. At that point they were probably both pretty exhausted by the effort of tending to a newborn. I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them began sleeping through cries and screams, especially if he or she worked too.

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It wasn't just across a room, the dad threw that motherfucker through the very walls! But, I really don't approve of this, personally.

I don't approve of cruelty to animals either, but that sounds like a natural reaction to THIS THING IS EATING MY BABY

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Bolding is mine. That's a very specialized police term, I'm sure.

Meh, Officer Friendly probably doesn't have any kids of his own yet.

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Seriously, though, why wasn't the family able to hear the baby screaming as it became pet food? Was the baby in the kitchen? I'm sorry, I'm not a parent yet, so I don't know if leaving your baby's bassinet in the kitchen would be practical or not. I'm assuming not.

Depends on the layout of the house. I know that in the house I grew up in, the master bedroom was right next to the kitchen, while the next closest rooms were down the hall, or on the other side of the kitchen.

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In the recent past, animal control officers responded to complaints about the family's dogs, including a Rottweiler, Ambrose said.

Bolding is mine. I'm tired of dog breeds getting bad raps; it's obvious the parents are not suitable for having animals - and I would venture to say they're not that awesome candidates for parents if they didn't hear the baby crying when the ferret started eating the baby's fingers - so let's not include the breeds and leave it at the fact these two are just pisspoor pet-owners on top of, more than likely, being negligent in the care of their baby.

I'm not going to argue that this couple being totally responsible. But they have already paid a very heavy price for being negligent pet owners, and I really don't think that sleeping through baby screams is the real problem here. Now, if it turns out that they slept through them because they were drunk or otherwise intoxicated, that's another story.

Fortunately, though, from reading the article, it seems that they may be able to restore the use of the baby's hands.

Holy shit. I'm going to have to agree with you there. Perhaps these people didn't really know how to care for pets. Not that I'm completely apathetic about the kid losing fingers!

I wonder what can be done for him?

Selenite wrote:

Holy shit. I'm going to have to agree with you there. Perhaps these people didn't really know how to care for pets. Not that I'm completely apathetic about the kid losing fingers!

I wonder what can be done for him?

In the article, it's mentioned that they'll be able to put some of his toes in place of his fingers, and elongate them. The procedure would be performed for free.

Penguin wrote:

4 months old. At that point they were probably both pretty exhausted by the effort of tending to a newborn. I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them began sleeping through cries and screams, especially if he or she worked too.

I'd imagine if the baby was crying in distress, though, would make them more alert; I've heard parents know the difference between a 'hungry-cry' or a 'change me- cry'. I get that sleeping through cries isn't a big deal, but the fact the baby was crying in distress should've triggered something. Then again, maybe I'm deluded.

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don't approve of cruelty to animals either, but that sounds like a natural reaction to THIS THING IS EATING MY BABY

I understand that, but I had mixed feelings when reading that line. Plus, I found it interesting how he "threw it across the house" instead of just "the room".

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Meh, Officer Friendly probably doesn't have any kids of his own yet.

Bassinets or cradles aren't obscure pieces of furniture, though.

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Depends on the layout of the house. I know that in the house I grew up in, the master bedroom was right next to the kitchen, while the next closest rooms were down the hall, or on the other side of the kitchen.

It's different if the bedroom is right next to the kitchen, but the article either makes it sound like the bedroom (child's or parents') was right across from the kitchen, which I've never seen. It may exist, I've just never seen a layout like that.

If the man's initial response was to kill the ferret, whipping it against the nearest wall seems more likely.

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I'm not going to argue that this couple being totally responsible. But they have already paid a very heavy price for being negligent pet owners, and I really don't think that sleeping through baby screams is the real problem here. Now, if it turns out that they slept through them because they were drunk or otherwise intoxicated, that's another story.

Fortunately, though, from reading the article, it seems that they may be able to restore the use of the baby's hands.

The way the story sounds, I just don't trust they were completely being responsible. Beyond the sleeping through distressed cries and all that, I have a feeling the baby was in a separate room - reading through the comments about how a ferret would take hours to chew through bones doesn't help much in this either - and even if it was the dog who chewed up the baby's fingers - another commenter supplied that - then the parents killed a ferret to hide their dog's violent tendency in order to keep a dangerous dog around their baby.

But it is good the baby will be able to have some new fingers soon, hopefully. =)

Mugg wrote:

Penguin wrote:

4 months old. At that point they were probably both pretty exhausted by the effort of tending to a newborn. I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them began sleeping through cries and screams, especially if he or she worked too.

I'd imagine if the baby was crying in distress, though, would make them more alert; I've heard parents know the difference between a 'hungry-cry' or a 'change me- cry'. I get that sleeping through cries isn't a big deal, but the fact the baby was crying in distress should've triggered something. Then again, maybe I'm deluded.

That sounds like a myth or an anecdote to me. People don't grow extra antennae when they become parents, and at least to me, all baby bawling sounds the same.

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The way the story sounds, I just don't trust they were completely being responsible. Beyond the sleeping through distressed cries and all that, I have a feeling the baby was in a separate room - reading through the comments about how a ferret would take hours to chew through bones doesn't help much in this either - and even if it was the dog who chewed up the baby's fingers - another commenter supplied that - then the parents killed a ferret to hide their dog's violent tendency in order to keep a dangerous dog around their baby.

But it is good the baby will be able to have some new fingers soon, hopefully. =)

What I want to know is, why did the ferret, which should be caged at night in a household with a young child, roam free? Why wasn't the door to the baby's room closed to protect it from the family pets? Usually, if you have pets AND a baby, you make doubly sure that whatever you have for a pet does NOT reach your child while unsupervised, no matter how harmless. Some new parents even get rid of their pets in order to keep the baby safe. So yeah, in the end, these parents were dumb as shit and not fit to own pets responsibly.

Saleha wrote:

That sounds like a myth or an anecdote to me. People don't grow extra antennae when they become parents, and at least to me, all baby bawling sounds the same.

I've heard it multiple times from multiple parents. It may just be one of those "Ohohoho, I'm a parent!" things, though. I assume there is a difference between a hungry cry and a distressed cry and that a parent can tell the difference; it makes sense to me that a mother, or any parent, would eventually be able to tell the difference.

Mugg wrote:

Saleha wrote:

That sounds like a myth or an anecdote to me. People don't grow extra antennae when they become parents, and at least to me, all baby bawling sounds the same.

I've heard it multiple times from multiple parents. It may just be one of those "Ohohoho, I'm a parent!" things, though. I assume there is a difference between a hungry cry and a distressed cry and that a parent can tell the difference; it makes sense to me that a mother, or any parent, would eventually be able to tell the difference.

Chiming in with "I think it makes sense". A kid or baby crying and screaming because of extreme, unceasing pain does sound different that a kid/baby crying because he or she is hungry or tired.

Also, I have the feeling that toes will never quite substitute for fingers for this poor kid. He will probably never have an entirely normal life -- I wish we had the technology available to regrow lost body parts; it would be so much better than doing skin grafts with donor skin that doesn't quite match the original skin in function or texture, organ transplants from other people, or stuff like this, with toes used for fingers. But you make the best of what you have, I guess.

According to my parents, a baby screaming in pain does sound different from one crying for food or a clean diaper. I was colicky for the first 4 months of my life, so they definitely got to know what an baby's screams of pain sound like.

Also, ferrets are predators. They should not be allowed to roam around babies, small children, or vulnerable pets. My middle school science teacher had two ferrets in the classroom. He was forced to get rid of them after they got loose and bit a custodian. Before they did that, the male got loose and killed four guinea pigs by biting them through the bars of their pen.

Penguin wrote:

Selenite wrote:

Holy shit. I'm going to have to agree with you there. Perhaps these people didn't really know how to care for pets. Not that I'm completely apathetic about the kid losing fingers!

I wonder what can be done for him?

In the article, it's mentioned that they'll be able to put some of his toes in place of his fingers, and elongate them. The procedure would be performed for free.

I'm glad about that at least.

Malganis wrote:

Also, I have the feeling that toes will never quite substitute for fingers for this poor kid. He will probably never have an entirely normal life -- I wish we had the technology available to regrow lost body parts; it would be so much better than doing skin grafts with donor skin that doesn't quite match the original skin in function or texture, organ transplants from other people, or stuff like this, with toes used for fingers. But you make the best of what you have, I guess.

I have a nagging feeling that this may just touch off stem cell wank.

Also, ferrets are notorious predators. I've always thought it was a bad idea to have a small child and a potentially dangerous animal (see: large dogs, aggressive dogs, ferrets, certain breeds of cat) in the same house.

Mr.Doobie wrote:

Malganis wrote:

Also, I have the feeling that toes will never quite substitute for fingers for this poor kid. He will probably never have an entirely normal life -- I wish we had the technology available to regrow lost body parts; it would be so much better than doing skin grafts with donor skin that doesn't quite match the original skin in function or texture, organ transplants from other people, or stuff like this, with toes used for fingers. But you make the best of what you have, I guess.

I have a nagging feeling that this may just touch off stem cell wank.

Also, ferrets are notorious predators. I've always thought it was a bad idea to have a small child and a potentially dangerous animal (see: large dogs, aggressive dogs, ferrets, certain breeds of cat) in the same house.

I have those exact same sentiments about animals and kids. No matter what sort of animal it is or how well it has behaved in the past, babies are essentially noisy, fleshy blobs. A lot of animals are confused by them and don't see them as human. It's why you need to have strict supervision if there's a pet around.

Have we had something similar to this posted on the forum before? It sounds familiar in some way.

Mr.Doobie wrote:

certain breeds of cat

...Cat?

Anyway, it's likely that a baby would not only have its cries read differently by its parents, but it would eventually learn to produce different cries once it starts sensing a pattern. Cats learn how to do it, and they're neither human nor particularly 'talkative' when wild.

Sutremaine wrote:

Anyway, it's likely that a baby would not only have its cries read differently by its parents, but it would eventually learn to produce different cries once it starts sensing a pattern. Cats learn how to do it, and they're neither human nor particularly 'talkative' when wild.

Some cats are extremely clever in this regard. Mine scratches his neck when he wants out of a room (he has a bell on his collar) and only when he wants out of a room. That one sound means that one thing and that one thing only. Unless his neck just itches, of course. The other cat has a distinct "I need something" meow, a distinct "I am lonely" meow, a distinct "I wanna play" meow, and a distinct "I am just pissed off at you in general" meow. What is funny is when you get used to how your cat "talks" to you and then you have to take care of someone else's cat and have no idea what the damn thing wants when it starts squawking at you.

I figure it is probably the same with babies. If it is not your baby/ a baby you have to live with all its cries will sound the same, but if you are observent and give a shit you can pick up on the differences. But I have never had a baby, so hell if I know.

Reepicheep-chan wrote:

Sutremaine wrote:

Anyway, it's likely that a baby would not only have its cries read differently by its parents, but it would eventually learn to produce different cries once it starts sensing a pattern. Cats learn how to do it, and they're neither human nor particularly 'talkative' when wild.

Some cats are extremely clever in this regard. Mine scratches his neck when he wants out of a room (he has a bell on his collar) and only when he wants out of a room. That one sound means that one thing and that one thing only. Unless his neck just itches, of course. The other cat has a distinct "I need something" meow, a distinct "I am lonely" meow, a distinct "I wanna play" meow, and a distinct "I am just pissed off at you in general" meow. What is funny is when you get used to how your cat "talks" to you and then you have to take care of someone else's cat and have no idea what the damn thing wants when it starts squawking at you.

I figure it is probably the same with babies. If it is not your baby/ a baby you have to live with all its cries will sound the same, but if you are observent and give a shit you can pick up on the differences. But I have never had a baby, so hell if I know.

Babies do it, and it baffles me, but babies freak me out in general. My dog does it, however, and I know exactly what's up. Among others, there a "someone's home!" bark, an "out of kibbles" bark, an "I want to be outside" bark, and the ever-critical "I really, really want to disembowel the UPS guy" bark (only used for delivery guys, and they know her by name and reputation now).

As someone who does have kids (though they're adults now), you do, over time, learn how to distinguish why they're crying (I've had people tell me they knew from the moment their baby was born what it's cries meant, but these are the same people who claim their kids were sleeping through the night when they were three months old, so I tend to not believe them). In the beginning, though, all babies cries basically sound the same EXCEPT the 'I am in pain' cry. Which I would quantify less as a cry and more a scream. While it's highly possible to not be able to distinguish between an "I'm hungry' cry, "I need changed' cry, and "I'm bored and want some attention' cry, I don't think anyone with an IQ above a single digit could sleep through an "I am in pain, please make it stop!' cry.

I say this because one of the boys got bitten by a spider that got into his crib when he was around four months, and the scream he gave was enough to resurrect me, his father (who was working 12-hour shifts) and his twin brother. We ended up having to rush him out to the ER, where we spent the next 12 hours scared half to death he was going to die (he had an allergic reaction and quit breathing at one point). I can't imagine anyone sleeping through a baby screaming like that, unless they were either drunk or on drugs.

So a baby in extreme distress is not likely to be mistaken for a baby who's simply fussing because he's hungry. The fact that the ferret had time to chew off seven and a half of the kids ten fingers before his mother apparently thought it worth checking on him leads me to believe that someone dropped the ball. Or was possibly drunk.

And I'm with Raine. Most animals (even regularly socialized ones like dogs and cats) should not be left unsupervised around infants and small children, never mind ferrets. Ferrets are, in essence, wild creatures-you may be able to train them, to a certain extent, but, as Raine said, they are still very likely to view a small, squirming child as a possible meal, or just something interesting they can chew on. We had a couple here in town whose two month old son was smothered by a python they had as a pet (illegally, I might add), who got out of his cage and into the ductwork of the house. We had a cold snap not long after, and it apparently found its way into the baby's room and 'snuggled up to it' because it was warm. The parents were put on trial, but were acquitted (thought hey were charged with possession of an illegal animal). I imagine losing your child to something you considered to be a harmless pet would be punishment enough.

So I tend to be a bit skeptical that neither of the parents recognized the child's cries for what they were. Unless they were the sort of people who regularly let it cry in the hopes it'd would eventually go back to sleep. I've never understood how people could do that, but I've known a few who did.

I'm not a parent, and even I can tell the difference between "I need changed" and "OHGODTHEPAIN!" I have, thankfully, only heard the pain shriek twice, when a baby cousin had surgery and her wound was bumped and on a video of a baby boy getting circ'd.

All the other cries sound exactly the same to me, but that one? The pain-shriek is godawful. Ever heard a rabbit scream? It reminds me of that.

Mugg wrote:

So, the mother woke up and then woke the husband up - who was sleeping through his baby's screams - (...)

Seriously, though, why wasn't the family able to hear the baby screaming as it became pet food?

I imagine the whole thing went down pretty quickly- baby fingers are soft, squishy and bite-sized for a ferret. And then it takes a split second for the baby to start screaming, and then a couple of seconds for mom to get out of bed, and before dad can finish the thought that mom is gonna go look, there's seven fingers gone.