Well, it's not an array reference, as your comment indicates:#set reference for hashTry this:
print "The value for the key \"mickey\" is $$fer{'mickey'}\n";That is, use curly braces {}, not square ones [].
A slightly cleaner way to write that would be:
print "The value for the key \"mickey\" is $fer->{mickey}\n";
Just as a general comment: if you're trying to get your hands around the basics, references may be a little too much too soon. But I can't really say that applies to you specifically since I don't know. Good luck, HTH.