OK, I can't resist giving my babies their 15 minutes of fame:
 
Tiferet is my favorite because she is the most beautiful ferret I've ever
seen.  She's a sable, with soft fur and soulful eyes.  She is my favorite
because when I was desperately ill and despaired of ever healing, I would
hold her close and she would lick the tears off my face.  She is my
favorite because she was my first ferret, my introduction to the ferret
world.
 
Snowball is my favorite because he taught me to look beyond the bbok
cover, as it were.  I said, "I hate albino animals, their red eyes are
creepy looking!" And then I met Snowball, and in his red eyes I see so
much intelligence, love, playfulness.  He is my favorite because he is so
incredibly smart.  He can escape from any cage when so inclined (which
isn't very often, thankfully) and he can climb *anything.* In the pet
store where I worked (and got him), he broke out of his cage, climbed up
a metal rack that held bird cages, opened a bird cage, and ate a $150
cockatiel that was basically amost his size.  Snowball is my favorite
because he has chutzpah.
 
Kesef is my favorite because he's such a wired weasel!  He never, ever
sleeps.  The minute you walk near his cage, he springs up out of the pile
of ferrets and stands by the door and gives you 'that look.'  When you
open the door of his cage, he literally FLIES out of the cage and into
your arms.  Kesef is my favorite because he's half bird, half kangaroo.
He wags his tail and leaps straight up in the air about four feet.  He
makes me laugh out loud when the rest of the world doesn't seem to hold
much joy sometimes.  He is a stunningly gorgeous silver mitt, and I'm
proud of his beauty, strength, and good health.  He is my favorite because
he was my first rescue, and when I see this 'unwanted' ferret (now there's
an oxymoron!), I feel good that I was able to be there when he needed me.
Not only is he wanted here, he's deeply loved by the whole family (except
the mangy, ferret-hating cat...but even *he* doesn't hate Kesef as much as
he hates the others!).
 
These guys have brought me untold joy...I mean, it's impossible not to be
joyous when a furry bundle flies four feet into the air and lands in your
arms...or climbs up your bathrobe (from floor to neck) to reach your face
to kiss you...or uses you as a springboard to get onto the bathroom
counter to steal your toothbrush ("No, Kesef!  Only bite the *handle*!
No!  The bristles are only for *my* mouth!").  Or hides around a corner
to pounce on your unsuspecting feet...but is so obvious about peeking
around the corner to see if you're coming, it's kind of difficult to be
"unsuspecting"!  The kisses and the wet noses stuffed into my ear :-)
"snuffle, snuffle!"
 
And BIG and all the members of the FML are my favorites because they
understand.  They show the kindness that exists in a sometimes cruel
world.  They celebrate playfulness and life.  They understand when someone
is inconsoleable when a fuzzy is sick, when the rest of the world says
"what?  You're this worked up because of an animal?!?  Who cares?  Relax,
if it dies you can always buy another one!"  They make sacrifices and do
with less so the fuzzies can have more.  They make it possible for places
like the FML to exist, where ferret owners can help each other, guide each
other, inform each other, and support each other in times of sorrow or
difficulty.
 
Chana & the kids
Tiferet:  "I'll just sit here on your lap and keep you warm." [kiss, kiss!]
Snowball: "If it's way high up and difficult to reach, it must be worth the
effort!"
Kesef:  "Kamikaze ferret!  Look out below!  WHEEEEEE!" [Jump! kiss! kiss!]
[Posted in FML issue 3572]