Hi all,
I just want to echo what Joanne R.  wrote about screen safety, but with a
slightly different spin...
 
When one is new to being owned by ferrets, as with any creature, there
is a learning curve to be mastered & a lifestyle adjustment to be made.
Naivete tends to run rampant.  When we first began fostering & owning
our weasels, we gave them utter, complete, carte-blanche free-roam around
our 99% ferret proofed house (the 1% has so far been only been proven by
Chloe, who fell to her death down a heating duct with a loose register
in a ferret-free area of our house she got into - a tragic lesson on the
learning curve!).  At the time of the following occurence, we had 2
sliding glass doors with extra heavy-duty screens installed in the outer
screen doors on the first & second floors of our home.  We never had a
problem with the ferrets scratching their way through the screen doors -
they were simply too tough for even their best efforts, in my
observation.  Again, naivete runs rampant - I never could have imagined
what happened to us one summer night, and have learned my lesson well!
 
On summer nights, we would open the top half of our windows & leave the
glass portion of the upstairs sliding glass door open on summer nights to
ventilate the stale, air-conditioned air that built up during the day,
leaving the screen door as the only barrier between the upstairs of my
home & the outside world.  The ferrets would generally sleep in a big
pile in my dresser drawer until dawn, when they would come up under the
sheets & nibble & sniff us awake.  Our dog would typically sleep on the
floor next to my husband's side of the bed, and our two cats would
usually sleep on our respective pillows.
 
I was in a deep sleep when I was awakened at about three in the morning
by a giant crashing noise in my office, which is adjacent to my bedroom.
At the same time, my dog (an 85-lb.  golden retriever, who is terrified
of the ferrets) leaped completely across the queen size bed without
setting a paw on it & went screaming out into the office, barking &
growling at the top of his lungs.  The cats freaked & flew under the bed.
My husband & I ran out into the office, petrified & convinced that there
was an axe murderer out there getting ready to lay waste to everyone &
everything in the house.
 
We were treated to the sight of six ferrets wardancing & running
around the overturned trash cans, knocked-over computer tower & dumped
bookshelves - and the sight of a massive raccoon exiting the office via
a two-foot hole newly ripped in the screen door!  My dog was right on
the raccoon's butt, and chased him out the hole & off the edge of our
upstairs porch.  I frantically ran around collecting all six of the
bottlebrushed, dooking ferrets, and my husband was out on the balcony
yelling at the raccoon & trying to restrain the dog.  We did manage to
scare away the varmint, and lock the ferrets in the cage for the
night...much to their displeasure.  However, I shudder to think of what
could have happened had it not been for my four-legged alarm system; Abe
Froman, Sausage King of Chicago...Golden Retriever extraordinaire.
 
I am guessing that the ferrets were out roaming in the house at an
unusual hour, and the passing raccoon may have smelled ferrety "prey"
as he strolled past my house.  Since the hole was so large, and the mess
in the office was greater than even ferrets could cause in such a short
time, I am certain the raccoon made it as he tried to get the ferrets
(unless the ferrets somehow got ahold of the SkilSaw & a bulldozer).  We
were so lucky to have learned the lesson of the day sans casualties...it
could have been downright horrifying.
 
I truly do hate to think of the bloodbath that may have resulted from
my carelessness.  The ferrets now have their own, 100% secure &
ferret-proofed room which they are only allowed to leave under extreme
micromanagement by the hoomins.  Not that everyone has to go to this
extreme - this is just what works for us, after having ferrets for four
years & enduring several anxious & unfortunate occurences.  As far as I
know the ferrets are always safe now...however, they may surprise me with
some new horrifying trick one of these days.  We all know how smart &
creative they are!  All we can do is guard them as well as possible, and
hope for the best.  In closing, please be so careful with ferrets &
screens...Joanne said you never know what they could get into, or out
of...the same holds true for what may get in & get them!
 
Jessica
 
Jessica Manson Morton
Whimsy Creative Photography!
28 Stafford St.
Plymouth, MA 02360
(508) 747-5505
[log in to unmask]
www.whimsyphoto.com
[Posted in FML issue 4497]