This is my first post, but after reading all the hooey about the Ben
Stiller incident, I wanted to write and tell you what happened on Friday
of last week.
 
I had told my husband that all I wanted for Christmas was another ferret,
he's very tolerant of my pets but it's hard for him sometimes as he is
no where near the pet lover that I am.  Anyway, he told me that if I
could find one to go ahead and get it.  I asked people that I know if
they had heard of any ferrets needing homes, nothing.  I have yet to find
a shelter where I live that has ferrets; there is one about an hour and
a half away, but last time I checked there they had no ferrets needing
homes.  Well, I finally said poo and called the pet store in a
neighboring town.  Yes they had two ferrets.  I was out the door.
 
When we got there, they had the two in a large bin made of plywood.  The
ferrets could only see out of the top, they had one hammie that was torn
and would only hang from two corners.  Their water was alright, but their
food was covered with the wood shavings that were being used for litter
and bedding (there was no litter pan).  There was an albino and a silver
mitt, both 3 or 4 months old.  The owner told me that they were both
males (it turns out that the albino is female).
 
As I reached in to pick the albino up, she jumped and attached herself to
my jacket sleeve.  I then picked up the silver mitt that was with her and
he began to check me over.  My daughter reached in for the albino and was
bitten on the hand.  No blood, just teeth marks.  A young man that was
also looking at them told me that " the white one bit" him on the ear.
"The white one" then bit my daughter on the cheek.  We did NOT rush to
the hospital or the nearest doctor.  It was a ferret bite, now if the
store owner had bitten my daughter, then we would have dialed 911.
 
The price on the bin read 149.99 (with a slash thru it), 120.00 on sale.
I asked the owner if he would be willing to make a deal on the two.  He
answered a quick no.  So I went back to the bin to broken-heartedly
decide which ONE I would take home with me.  I already had an albino at
home, so I chose the silver mitt.  We went to the register, with ferret
in hand, and the owner began to ring up my purchase.  Out of nowhere, he
looks at me and says, " I'll let you have them both for $200.00" .  I
agreed, paid, and was out the door.
 
So, I now have three ferrets in charge of my house.  They are Veesie,
an albino male; Jill, an albino female; Jack, a silver mitt.  Jill IS a
nipper, but has already settled down some.  My daughter asked, after we
had gotten back home, if I thought the store owner made the deal because
he knew it would not be easy to sell a biter.  I figure that was the main
reason the deal was made, but I really don't care what his reasons were.
I got the only thing I really wanted and two ferrets got a forever and
ever home.  I know that some disagree with buying ferrets from pet
stores, but I am glad I got these two.
 
So, now my household consists of nine dogs (five in the house; four
outside), five cats, one hamster, three birds, three fish, and one silky
hen (yes it's a chicken).  And then there are five humanoids, I put it
that way because two are teenagers and they are only human-like at this
stage.  We are a happy bunch of loons and if someone calls today and
says," Hey I've got this ferret...." .  Yes, I'll take it.
 
Blessings to everyone, human and ferret alike, and happy holidays to all!!
Suzanne
[Posted in FML issue 4370]