Dear Ferret Folks-
 
Recently I have been concerned about the integration of Switch the Kit,
and our new forever weasel, Lily.  They run, chase, romp, stomp, frolic,
and scramble in the tubes together for hours.  They leap through the
air after one another like superheroes in tiny little red capes, they
overturn things.  My mother-in-law lives in the apartment beneath ours.
She says that when the ladies play, they sound like Mack trucks
re-arranging furniture.  Obviously they have the 'playmate' aspect
of their new relationship down pat, even though Lily teases Switch
mercilessly.  I can't tell you how many times I have seen a fuming Switch
standing still while a manic Lily dances around her in a circle, going
"Hee-hee-hee-hee!"
 
It was the 'companionship' aspect that concerned me.  The two simply do
not sleep in a furry pile at night.  Once I tried locking the ladies in
their cage to see if they'd sleep together.  Both wound up in the hammie,
but I noticed that after a while Switch pushed Lily out of it, and onto
the floor of the cage.  Lily was left there, half asleep, going "Whaaa?"
I had to wonder, was Switch still mourning the loss of Sabrina?  Did she
resent Lily in some way?  Lily had been an only ferret for years, was she
just unsociable on some level?  What was going on, here?
 
Last night I finally got my answer.
 
It was late, and the ladies were asleep.  Switch, as usual, was buried in
the pile of hand-croched afghans that fill the antique baby-crib that I
store in the ferret room.  This is where she has chosen to sleep ever
since Sabrina crossed the Bridge.  I leaned into the darkened ferret room
through the doorway, and I heard the strangest noise coming from the cage
in the closet, where the soft hammie is.
 
Peet-Whee!  Peet-Whee!  Peet-Whee!  Peet-Whee!  Peet-Whee!
 
It was a shrill, piercing sound, very regular, almost like some intricate
bit of metal machinery being broken over and over again.  It was Lily in
the soft hammie.  And she was snoring to beat the band.  She sounded like
she needed to be sprayed with half a can of W-D 40 to get the squeak out.
NOW I get it!
 
When I look at the way the ferret room is laid out, the antique baby crib
is as faaar away from the soft hammie as you can get and still be in the
room.  Faaar away, and muffled under layers of sound absorbent afghans,
that is where Switch buries herself to get away from Peet-Whee!
Peet-Whee!  Peet-Whee!  Peet-Whee!  Peet-Whee!
 
I don't think that I have to worry, anymore.
 
Alexandra in Massachusetts
[Posted in FML issue 3922]