Everyone,
 
I just wanted to give my sincere thanks to everyone who emailed me their
condolences regarding the sudden death of our ferret George earlier
this week.  Heather and I have been uplifted by the many emails we have
received.  We are eternally grateful for each and every one of you and
for the FML, of which we have been members for many years.
 
Someone asked about the container that George was suffocated in.  I will
do my best to describe it, in the hopes that if someone else out there
has something like this, they will be able to remove it before a similar
thing happens to them.
 
I dont know the brand, but the container is your typical Rubbermaid-type
storage container, like one you might use for storage under your bed.
What makes the lid airtight are two clasps (one on each end of the lid)
and snap down into place.  Several months ago, one of the clasps broke
off, so it was only tight on one end.  For whatever reason, George got in
under the loose end of the lid and couldnt get out.  Last night when we
removed the container from the ferret's room, Heather discovered that it
was possible for one of the loose corners to catch and thereby leaving
only one corner free.  Evidently once George got the top half of his body
in there, that corner must have caught, making it impossible for him to
free himself.
 
Its still quite unbelievable to me that something like this could even
happen, and I suspect I will never erase the horrific memory of finding
him like that and knowing that he must have struggled to free himself and
he must have suffered.  Though I try to remember that God must have had
other plans for George, it still has shaken my faith a wee bit.
 
I hope that sharing my experience will help prevent it from happening to
someone else's fuzzy out there.
 
Thanks again for all the support.
Becky and Heather and the Excellent Eight: Abby, Chunky, Farty, Nugget,
Bob, Digger, Weasie and Holly Berry
 
Missing Ally (1/02), Sleepy (02/04), Peanut (07/04), Mialey (07/04), Egan
(08/04) and George (03/05)
[Posted in FML issue 4814]