We got our first ferret quite by accident, from a kind girl with too many
animals and not enough time.  At the time, we were traveling the country,
working and living in our van.  Woozle was shy and quiet when we met him;
he'd been caged his whole life.  We saw nothing wrong about keeping a
(caged) animal in our van.  (We didn't know any better)  He was an
excellent traveler, never a problem; although we did not have the first
clue about ferrets and their behaviors and needs.  We took him to work
with us each day, and he slept or moved quietly around his tiny cage.
 
The first time we let him loose, in an old theater we were renovating,
he took off like a shot!  Within days, he was a different animal.  He
danced, (Is he OK?) he dooked, (Hey!  He made a noise!) he played
recklessly, running into things and off of things.  His antics scared us,
delighted us, amazed us...and we were hooked.  So much personality in
such a small package!  I would never again think of them as 'large
hamsters', or any type of 'caged' pet.  (We began renting hotel rooms
just so he could run around.)
 
Realizing this, it occurred to me how many people must still see them
that way.
 
And so began our (unintentional) quest to educate others.  From Florida
to Kansas, from Oklahoma to Nevada, whenever possible, we walked Woozle
on his leash, because, not only did he enjoy it immensely, we loved
showing him off.  He was unique, our fuzzy ferret ambassador, a
conversation-starter, and a great networking tool.  People had the most
amazing reactions to this warm little guy.
 
Eventually, we ran out of gas in Las Vegas, and decided to make a home
for ourselves.  Although in reality we still knew next to nothing about
ferrets, we based many of our decisions on Woozle's welfare!  Our first
apartment had a wonderful ferret-proof patio.  Unfortunately, it wasn't
people-proof.  Woozle was stolen from under our noses one night.  Our
brave little cross-country fellow wanderer was gone.  Our child was gone.
 
Although we searched desperately for over a month, posted ads and flyers,
enlisted all the neighbors, and offered huge rewards, we never got a
single clue as to his whereabouts.  (We pray he is healthy and happy
somewhere, or waiting patiently at the Bridge for our reunion.  Our time
together was far too short.)
 
In all that time, we got only two replies to our plea for help.  One was
from a young girl who had found a ferret wandering the streets, far from
our home.  We raced to meet her; I took one look at the snaggle-toothed
dark sable fellow in the carrier and burst into tears.  The girl couldn't
keep him, and offered him to us.  We gave her a small amount of money for
her trouble, and took the new boy home.  After all, we did have a cage
and supplies...and a big ferret-shaped hole in our hearts; and this boy
needed us.  We cried watching him explore his new home.  We named him
Jeepers.  And we fell in love all over again.
 
The second reply was from CJ at 24 Carat Ferret.  It's a wonder she would
even talk to us, as we could hardly describe Woozle.  (When asked what he
looked like, well, he looked like a ferret.  Brown.  Some white.  We were
so naive.)  She did her best to help us anyway.  When we got Jeepers, we
made a heart-wrenching decision: we took him to CJ in case he belonged to
someone.  Sad that no one claimed him, but very much relieved, we took
him back home.
 
Her shelter opened our eyes to the real world of ferrets.  We began to
learn, to read books, to ask questions, to make real improvements in
the way we took care of our ferret.  And naturally, while visiting the
shelter, we contracted a serious case of ferret math.  (You mean we can
have more than one!?) Naturally, Jeepers needed a friend.  And, oooh!
This one is silver!  Sure, we can foster these two.  Look at that pink
nose!  Poor baby, a broken leg!  Aww, a tiny baby girl!  Hey, he picked
me...
 
Ten ferrets later, and years of ferrety happiness.  Our own beautiful 4
bedroom house, picked with the ferrets in mind, of course.  A quiet older
neighborhood on a cul-de-sac, where we, and our ferrets, enjoyed our
first ever block party.  The ferrets were quite a hit!  (Turns out ferret
math is highly contagious- my next door neighbor has adopted 3 so far!)
We made it a point to introduce all our neighbors to our 'kids', and we
encourage theirs to play with them.  None of our neighbors- our friends-
are afraid of them now, and when one escaped a while back, he was
returned almost immediately.
 
The day that young girl I hired gave us our first ferret, our first
child; that was the day we won the 'lottery'.  The day our life among
the Woozles started.
 
That's our story. What's yours?
 
Julie & the Woozles
21stCenturyFerret.com
"Ferrety stuff for ferrety people"
Dedicated to the support of
24 Carat Ferret Rescue & Shelter, Las Vegas
[Posted in FML issue 3994]