Hi everyone,
I just wanted to send a big thank you to everyone on this list.  I was a
member for 3 years or so back in the late nineties, and many of you were
a huge help as I first discovered my love of ferrets.
 
I got my first, Mia, back in 97 or so.  She was wonderful, but had a
string of medical problems.  The FML was always there for me, and a great
many of you were ready to help me (and my vet, who had experience with
fuzzies but had never seen some of her problems).  Once we got her
problems straightened out, she was happy and healthy and lived to be my
8 year old little old lady.
 
Pace, Bullet and Early joined Mia as I became more addicted to the love
of ferrets.  The four of them followed me from apartment to apartment to
house, taking over more and more space in my home and heart.  They loved
to rampage through my house, knocking over anything in the way, digging
in plants, pulling up carpets, eating the cat's food, chasing feet, and
finding the cosiest spots in house to nap.
 
A quick aside on rampaging - some of you may remember this story from 5
years ago.  Mia used to love climbing, and would find the most incredible
ways to get on top of shelves, furniture, bathroom counters, etc.  Time
after time, she'd get on top of my dresser and knock everything off onto
the floor.  Each time, I'd figure out how she did it, and block her way.
Days later, she'd find another way to get on the dresser and knock
everything over.
 
Finally, I thought I had it all blocked.  It had been weeks since Mia
had gotten on the dresser, though she often paced around looking at all
of her different routes to the top.  Sure enough, I come home one night
and she had done it again.  This time, she had figured out how to open
the drawers from underneath the dresser, climb into the back of the
drawer, open the drawer above it, climb into it, and finally open the
top drawer and climb onto the dresser.  I was so impressed - how do
ferrets continually outsmart a human?  This is the same ferret that
pushed a shoebox across the floor to serve as a step to get over the
doorway gate - amazing.
 
Pace and Bullet were the sweetest, cudliest ferrets right from the day
I met them.  Early, on the other hand, was rescued from a horrible pet
store and was a total psycho (hence naming her after Brad Pitt in
Kalifornia - and yes, we originally were told she was a boy).  Again the
FML was there to help me help her.  Within a matter of weeks, she went
from being an aggressive biter to being a total sweetheart.  She bit me a
hundred times in the first few weeks, and never once except by accident
in the next 6 years).
 
It's sad that cancer is so prevalent in ferrets - all four of them had
adrenal gland problems.  Fortunately, my vet was able to help all of
them live to ripe old ages with lots of energy and fun.  I lost Early
yesterday, and though I'm sad to say goodbye, she lived a long happy
life.  I'm glad the last one to go was also the 'loner' of the group -
she always seemed to enjoy hanging out with humans more than ferrets.
 
I'm now fuzzy-less, though I imagine that will change again some day.  I
just wanted to thank everyone again for all of your help and hope that
all of your are having as much fun with your buds that I did.
 
Clucks,
Jim Hensley
[Posted in FML issue 4818]