Hmmmm... how do you get the smell out?  What smell?  I have nine ferrets.
Now, I know when my friends and family come over that they don't smell
the same thing I do.  That's because I live with these guys every day and
hardly ever smell their "odor".
 
The only time I DO smell anything is when I wake my guys up from a sound
sleep, pick them up, and cradle them in my arms.  I pull them up next to
my face so that I can feel the warmth and softness of their fur for just a
few seconds while they're yawning and stretching - before they want down
to go cause trouble.  It's only then that I can smell them.  I just can't
imagine wanting that smell to go away.
 
I remember losing one of my guys, once.  We buried him where we always do,
at the foot of what we call Josie's Mountain.  (Josie, a big ol' comical
sheepdog, who died of some kind of seizure and was the first to be buried
there, out in the peaceful high desert).  We buried him with the hammock
my wife had made for him so he could always have a piece of home with him.
He had surgery just before he died, and was wrapped up in surgical
bandages, so my last vision of him was one I would have rather not had.
He didn't at all look like himself.  Nothing near natural.  But just
before I placed him in his hammock for the last time, I noticed his
scent... the same scent that I smelled every time I would put him to bed
for the night.  It was coming from his hammock.  I put it close to my nose
and let that scent seep into me one last time.  Then I put him into his
hammock and, through my tears, wished him a good sleep.
 
Yeah, I know ferrets "stink".  Hell, we all stink.  And I know that lots
of people won't see (or smell) it the same way that I do.  But if you
really want the smell out, use Febreeze or something.  Just make sure
it's safe, though.
 
Me?  I'll just live with my guys, odors and all.  I kinda like it that
way.
 
Roary
Albuquerque, New Mexico
[Posted in FML issue 3782]