I think all ferret owners should have at least one loud obnoxious squeeky
toy to round up all their ferrets, if you find one missing.  I have a few
of these (for back-up).  One of my ferrets a few years back made a hole in
our dryer vent material ( NEVER USE PLASTIC) and escaped outside twice!  We
were out in the dark looking for him, trying everything, shaking his can of
treats, leaving a cage and food out, etc ( whether I had to camp out there
or not).  I got the idea of using a loud peircing squeeky toy ( neighbors
must have thought I was nuts doing this in the dark).  Sure enough he came
to it!  He had been attacked by something and was taken to the vet for
treatment ( he was okay).
 
Stupidly, we replaced the plastic venting coled material with the same and
sure enough it happened again.  Thank God for the squeeky ball!  I learned
a VERY HARD lesson to never use plastic for dryer venting ( we now use a
VERY HEAVY duty aluminum and also have the other end with a vent that he
couldn't escape from anyway.).  When I can't find a guy when they're out
roaming the house, all I do is panicking way squeeze that ball and I
eventually get them all rounded up!  You might want to reinforce this
with a treat when they come to it!
 
Eleanor
[Posted in FML issue 3413]