[Moderator's note: Please note the ferret never did escape (as noted in
the post follwing that one) but good advice nonetheless.  BIG]
 
Sorry to hear that your little one has disappeared.  It happens, even to
those of us who think we're oh-so-careful and until it happens, we seem
to have this "but I'm so super careful, it won't happen here" mentality
that we refuse to disrupt our lifestyle, dEcor, or personal convenience
to prevent it.
 
What I've done to prevent the re-occurrence is to put 24" barriers on
all exterior doorways.  Yes, my guests are required to step over.  On
holidays when elderly relatives are visiting, ferrets are banished to
closed rooms with barriered doorways and even then, the exterior door
barriers are taken up only long enough for elderly visitors to come in
and go out.  My house has been dubbed "the obstacle course" by my friends
and family.  They may bad-mouth me behind my back about it, but have the
decency to only joke about it in my presence.
 
24" height with a round top edge (pvc pipe) is sufficient to deter most
fuzzy attempts to escape (and the round edge is easier on bare toes that
scrape over it and makes it less likely for shoes to hang and trip you).
But, as something to simply slow them down in a doorway that's always
closed (like a door that also has a screen door with a solid bottom, or
a glass storm door) an 18" high barrier will give people a chance to
notice the ferret trying to escape.
 
I use 1/4" Plexiglas with aluminum channel screw to the doorframe.  This
is available at large hardware stores like Lowes & Home Depot and will
cost about $25.  Measure carefully for the Plexiglas size, allowing for
the thickness of the channel and the heads of the screws inside the
channel.  In most doorways you can use the aluminum L strips against the
inner jam so that measuring is easier.
 
You also have to make sure that there are no "ladders" near the barriered
doorway... chairs, dropped backpacks, etc.
 
No matter how effective your barrier is, it won't prevent a
"disenchanted" resident from "helping" your ferret escape.
 
The bottom line is... the "Perfect Ferret Home" does not exist.  We must
simply learn from our mistakes and do the best we can with what we have
to work with.
 
Barrier Tips here:
http://www.ferrets1st.com/articles/barrierbasics.htm
 
Debi Christy
www.ferrets1st.com
Ferrets First Foster Home
[Posted in FML issue 5085]