Although I had about decided to just let it go, I need to post this so
that you can all see just how easy it is to lose a ferret. There is no
need to be a totally irresponsible careless putz. Given a chance, a
ferret will take any opportunity to look out of its safe spot and
wonder "What's out there?" And, having once tasted that freedom, some
will stop at nothing until they can do it again!

In my ferret life I have had several escape artists. Sammie, my first
ferret (who survived by the grace of God!) could find ways to escape
that I knew nothing about! At least 4 times he was found outside and I
thought he was safely in the house. Shadow would sneak out when nobody
was looking, but at least he didn't hide!

Maggie Mae came to me with Buddy, Swee' Pea and Rosie. They were
originally a group of 10 and their second owners would put the cage in
the back yard. They told me that the ferrets could get out of the cage,
but "they usually all come back." HELLO????? Well, I got them just
before moving to Corpus Christi. I came home one day to find she was
not in the cage. She had escaped from the closed cage and wandered
downstairs. The handymen who were there in the afternoon swore to me
that they had not seen her and no, she had not gone through the open
doors. (Yeah, right!) Well, they were right. I found her under the
recliner I had had for 13 years -- through all my ferrets -- and she
had somehow managed to snag ONE toe somewhere in it. I was able to get
her out, but her toe was hanging by one strand of flesh. The local
weasel doc was able to remove it, sew it up and return her to me for
only the cost of the emergency vet visit! <sigh> She lived with me
another 5 years, taking her last breath the day after the Crocodile
Hunter took his.

Odie came to me from New York and he doesn't even hesitate. Ask anyone
who has seen him and they will tell you that the boy senses an escape
route and when you are blinking and he is gone in a flash! And, he
doesn't just escape. He escapes and then hides so you won't know where
he went! He flies and he climbs and he jumps like an Olympic athlete!

And, now there is Isadora. Two weeks ago we were in the backyard, which
I have closed off to create a play area with dirt, grass, shrubs, a
swimming pool and toys, so they can play outside. Well, the other day
my mom decided to edge around the sidewalks and the drive. There is a
sidewalk leading from the garage to the storage shed in the back and
it got edged, too.

Friday night I went out to eat with my cousin. We got home and at just
that moment my stomach revolted. I got sick as a dog - and it was later
determined to be food poisoning - so I didn't let Isadora and Duncan
out for their night run. The next morning I was up early and decided
to take Issy and Duncan out a little before 7:00 to make up for the
previous night. I set up the yard, grabbed my coffee and computer to
read the FML while the babies played. I watched them bouncing around,
going in and out of the flowerbeds. As always, they tried to get into
the garage after nearly an hour, but it was so nice outside I told them
to play a little longer. Then Duncan started pawing and biting the pen
so I would let him in. I finished typing the sentence on my email and
sent it. I reached down and picked up Duncan, thinking Issy was right
behind him, but she wasn't. Carrying Duncan, I walked through the yard
looking for her. I didn't see her, but there are places she can hide
that I can't see her.

Since Issy heads for the house when given the chance, I assumed she had
somehow managed to get into the garage and hidden or ducked through
the cat door to the air conditioning. I took Duncan in to his cage and
grabbed Skitch to flush her out of her hiding spot. She poofs when he
gets near her. I closed the garage door to keep her from escaping THAT
if she was in there. Skitch looked around, but no Issy. It has now been
about 5 or 10 minutes since I noticed she was missing.

To make a long story shorter, I searched from 8:00 Saturday morning
throughout the entire neighborhood. I was in people's yards, in their
shrubs, and in their carports. I knocked on doors and stopped cars. I
told everyone all about ferrets and her personality. I told them how
to trap her or how she could escape if they took their eyes off her.
I walked in the middle of the road to make them slow down. I looked
under houses and into holes. I reached in dark places, followed the
sounds of barking dogs, checked the bayou and talked to more people.
My experience told me that they don't usually go very far. My fear
was that I had not been looking when a bird of prey swooped down and
snatched her -- I couldn't miss THAT, could I?

DIGRESSION: When I told someone this story, she shared that one of
their customers had come into the store and told about how she had her
ferret out in the yard, watching her, and a hawk DID swoop down and
snatch her, carrying the ferret off as her devastated owner stood by
watching helplessly.

And, what about Duncan? Ever since I first watched the two of them in
the MSPCA cage and saw how she protected him, I knew they were close.
DMK rescues, they did not get along with other ferrets and she would
watch over Duncan -- who is deaf -- as he slept. What would he do
without his little leader?

I called a friend to help. Luckily she was also the weekend cover for
the animal rescue organizations in town, but unfortunately, that also
meant there was nobody else to call.

I knew that I needed a live trap, but couldn't find one. I put out a
cage with food, water and bedding. I made posters with a picture of
Isadora and her name on it and put as little info as possible: REWARD!
MISSING FERRET! Missing from . . . Missing since . . . Phone number. I
made it personal: "I am a tiny, scared little girl. Please help me get
home." Between 1:00 and 2:00 am I went through the neighborhood putting
the posters on lamp posts and telephone poles. I made handouts with the
same info. About 6:00 am I was up and headed out again. I handed out
the flyers to joggers and put them in newspapers not yet picked up and
in mail slots on doors. I put them on car windshields. I called her
name. I squeaked the toy. I learned about the online local Lost Pets
Network and went home and posted on there. I stopped people walking in
the large church on the corner and put up posters in the parking lot.

I was putting the posters 3 blocks away (expanding outward) when I got
a call from my mother. "Renee, I've got her! She is right here -- in my
hands!" Now, my mom doesn't have a special affinity towards ferrets,
but she was SO excited! You see, of all my ferrets, Issy is her
favorite. And, she missed her. Heading toward the house, I tore down
some of the posters as I passed them. I finally got to the house and on
the front porch across the street was the hero who had found her. I
went to talk to him and see what happened. Apparently she was under his
house, he said. And, because the garage is accessible from under the
house, she wandered in there. She was probably looking for the cat door
when she walked into a live trap he keeps in there, springing it and
capturing herself. When he went into the garage that morning (hours
after I first saw him outside) he saw the trap had been sprung.
Checking it, he found the little miss and returned her to my mom. When
I finally got home, I found her asleep in the hammock with Duncan.

-- 
Renee Downs
"Eventually we will realize that if we destroy the ecosystem we destroy
 ourselves." Jonas Salk
"The most effective way to do it, is to do it." Amelia Earhart
It's amazing how much can be accomplished if nobody cares who gets the
credit!
Ferret Emergency Response, Rescue & Evacuation Team (F.E.R.R.E.T.)
http://www.ferretemergency.org
[log in to unmask]
International Ferret Congress
http://www.ferretcongress.org
American Red Cross
http://www.redcross.org

[Posted in FML 6121]