Ferrets and biting

Yesterday Susan got bitten by Barbarella, one of the mothers of the 28 or so baby ferrets we're now looking after. I've never been bitten though I know it really hurts - she went for the bit between the thumb and the first finger and clenched on with gusto. Techniques for stopping it - squeezing between the ears didn't work, but she did eventually give up. The other mothers are fine and don't bite at all but there you go. We were cleaning her cage out and I suppose she thought we might be after her babies.
Someone told me their dad used to have a cigarette going when hadling them and if the ferret bit stubbed it out on their nose - what cruelty! Biting might hurt but that seems barbaric - but I suppose these were country ways and not borne out of any intelligence. My Grandmother, for example, made my uncle when he was a toddler grab a red-hot poker to try and cure his left-handedness!
Wiki on Ferrets is worth a read. Get in touch if you want one....