Weird thing happened last night.  I couldn't sleep, so I was watching TV
at about 3:00 a.m. and playing with Katie, a ferret we're babysitting for
a few weeks.  I finally decided to go to bed, so I went to put Katie back
in her cage in the room she's sharing with Cocoa and Psycho, 2 of our other
ferrets.  I went into the room and came face-to-face with a raccoon!
 
After a brief panic (mine - the raccoon just looked at me and slowly
waddled away), I saw Psycho was sleeping in their cage, so I shut the door
so the raccoon couldn't get at him, and grabbed Cocoa out of the box she
was sleeping in.  I went back into the adjoining kitchen to put Katie and
Cocoa somewhere safe and yelled for Theresa.  She woke right up and came
back out to the ferret's room, but by then the raccoon had taken off
through the window it came in through.
 
The window has a small air conditioner in it, which keeps it from closing
properly.  I had put a screen above the AC closing the rest of the window
off, too high for the ferrets to reach, but the raccoon had pried that
away and gotten in.  I guess he'd been helping himself to the ferret food.
 
Raccoons are very common in Toronto and I've handled tame ones before, but
haning one come right into the house scared me.  I'm sure it would have had
no trouble killing the ferrets if it had wanted to.  Psycho and Cocoa were
both sleeping through this, so I'm sure there was no contact.  We checked
them thoroughly for bites and scratches anyways, and they've had their
rabies vaccinations, so I'm sure there won't be a problem with that.
 
I took the AC out and locked the window, and tomorrow I'll make sure
the screening is secure.  People - you should have a look at not only
ferret-proofing windows to make sure your guys don't get out, but have a
look at the outside to make sure nothing gets in either.
 
On another topic - Theresa and I won't be able to attend the symposium, but
would like to meet some other FMLers, after the days' activities.  Which
hotel is everyone staying at, and who's having a party in their room?  I
can fire up the 'ole Skidoo (snowmobile, for you Americans), and bring over
some beer and a few ferrets to pass around to anyone suffering withdrawal.
 
Stan Siatkowski
[Posted in FML issue 3170]