I know we have all talked about being addicted to our ferrets, but are your
ferrets addicted to anything?  What will they do to obtain their addiction?
My two girls have certain things that they just can't live without.
 
For Minerva, my oldest, she absolutely can't live without playing tag on
your calf.  She will run up, wrap her paws around your calf, hold on for a
second - then let go and bounce away - more jumping than running cause she
wants you to catch her.  If for some reason you are too busy to play during
her time out she will lie on the floor and look so devestated that it just
breaks your heart.  So of course you have to drop what you are doing and
play extra hard.
 
She also has a thing for soda.  Coke specifically.  When we first had her
we didn't realize that this little ferret could make the giant leap from
the couch to the coffee table to knock over the pop can, take a drink and
fall off the table from the surprise carbonation caused.  Ever since that
first time if she sees a red pop can - nothing will stop her from trying to
get to it.  If you stand up and pick up the pop can, she will climb from
your feet up to the pop can in 5 seconds flat.  If it was across the grand
canyon I bet she would try to make the jump.  If there is an empty pop can
in the house she will drag it off - laughing all the way down the hallway
to her "hiding spot" under my bed.  She hasn't tasted any pop in at least
2 years but she never forgot...
 
For Frumpstiggle, she would do anything for french fries.  I bet if you
asked her to tie herself in a knot for them she would.  She doesn't eat
them though.  She just has to have all the french fries.  Her life depends
on it.  The survival of every living thing on the planet depends on it.
Well you would believe that from the way she acts.  Once she has taken the
french fry away and hid it somewhere - she is back to normal.  But french
fries don't belong in her people's hand.  She will get them away any way
she can.  I think part of it is that this is my obsessive compulsive
ferret.  She is anal in her organization.  She is the ferret that knows
that the little cap that goes over the bolt of the toilet does not belong
there.  It belongs in the living room under the couch.  Always has.  First
thing she does when she gets out is to go put the cap in the right place.
Silly humans keep moving it on her.  She won't even accept a treat until it
is put away.  There are lots of things in the house that she has a place
for.  Like french fries belong under the bed.  They are bad bad evil french
fries and they must be hidden away so they don't tempt the humans.  Or
something like that.
 
She also gets a perverse joy out of taking food from us.  Any food.  Not to
hide.  Not to eat.  Just to take away.  We were eating chicken the other
night and I set my piece of chicken on the plate while I took a drink.
As soon as I was done drinking I look at the plate and my chicken isn't
there.  I follow the dooking noise to only about two feet away and there is
Frumpstiggle with my chicken in her mouth waving it back and forth slightly
as if to say nah nah I got your food.  I get up to go get it she drops it
and runs off.  Later she did the same thing with my leftovers.  Taunted me
with them, dropped them and ran.
 
Beth, Minerva & Frumpstiggle the marsh wiggle
in Aurora, CO
[Posted in FML issue 3359]