Pet ferret in Missouri chews off seven of sleeping infant's fingers after crawling onto baby seat

The Daily News ^ | January 20th 2011 | RICH SCHAPIRO

[Leisler]

A pet ferret chewed off seven of a Missouri infant's fingers, leaving the boy with two thumbs and a pinky.

The ferret feasted on the sleeping 4-month-old's hands after it crawled onto his baby seat about 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 10, authorities said.

The boy's father rushed into the living room when he heard the screams of his wife, who was sleeping near the baby. The dad grabbed the ferret and hurled it against a dishwasher, killing it instantly.

The boy was treated at a local hospital and released four days later, cops said.

"He's definitely going to have challenges," Grain Valley Police Chief Aaron Ambrose said. "Several of his fingers were chewed down past the second knuckle at least."

[kennedy]

Cries from colic and cries from long, drawnout pain are different cries.

During my oldest daughter's first night on Earth, the nurses let her sleep in my wife's hospital room. In the middle of the night, the nurses could hear my daughter's blood curdling screams from across the hospital wing. They kept checking to make sure that we were not beating her to death.

We had her checked by the doctor repeatedly when she was an infant. The doctor could find nothing wrong and assured us that she just had very healthy lungs and a very low tolerance for any annoyance. Whenever she wanted anything (food, sleep, a clean diaper, to be held, etc.) and did not get it immediately out came the blood curdling screams. She is now a teenager and has many of the same characteristics.

My youngest daughter was the opposite. She rarely cried and slept through just about anything. She is now also a teenager and getting her to wake up for school in the morning is a challenge.

I am not saying that the parents in the article are innocent. If they tested positive for drugs or alcohol or if there is any evidence that they left the baby unattended then they should be prosecuted for child abuse. I also think they were grievously stupid to allow a ferret to roam through their house with an infant.

I am just saying that it is POSSIBLE that the parents were in a sleep deprived state from a screaming baby and that by the time Mom woke up enough to realize that the baby was injured it was too late.

[al_c]

Understood. But ... seven fingers!
It must take a considerable amount of time for a ferret to eat seven fingers ... even small ones on an infant.

[goldstategop]

Ferrets are domesticated weasels. They make great pets but not around babies and small children. When it comes to domesticated carnivores, supervise playtime and make sure neither pet nor the child are too rough.

They can be best friends but parents have to set boundaries.