Hi everyone, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I have dug out
of the snow but been buried in paperwork. Usually it's the we view this
time of year as the beginning of tax season, but apparently for me, I
should have checked the calendar, February appears to be the month of
Ferrets Fire and Ice.

Sounds like an Olympic skating show but it's not.

First the Fire:
Recently we posted about the four ferrets who were rescued from a fire
at one of our foster homes. Thankfully they were all rescued and on the
mend. Our foster mom has located a new place to live, one with lots of
fire alarms and a very safe place. Although she lost most of her own
possessions, with all of your help we have managed to get the vet bill
down to $500. Everyone helped, and in particular we especially want to
thank Michele Paulhus for going to the scene of the fire and
transporting the ferrets to the vets for emergency care, Charlie
Aliano, one of our dedicated shelter volunteers for going to the new
foster location to set up the new ferret area and their new cage,
transporting them back and forth for their checkups, Libby Nelson, Sue
Baker and Rose German who made them beautiful bedding. Both Rose and
Eleanor Mead put up items on ebay to raise money. Tim Cairns of Meletek
who donated melatonin implants (as all four of them are adrenal), April
from Performance Foods sent all kinds of Totally Ferret Food, Vivify,
and Complete Care. We are so very thankful to the International Ferret
Congress for awarding a grant to Dr Susan Harrington and her staff at
the Randolph Animal Hospital for their emergency care for these ferrets
as well as their ongoing dedication to our shelter and the ferret
community in Massachusetts. Thank you to each and everyone of you who
sent a kind word, a card, a prayer or a little something to help with
the vet bill, you really made a difference!

And the Next Fire:
(can you believe two local fires within two weeks of each other??)

We got a call from someone with a very raspy voice who explained that
they had a fire at their house of which her son was carrying the ferret
when the alarms went off, scaring her son and the ferret who jumped out
of his arms. They were pulled from the building calling for the ferret.
The mother spent three days in the hospital with smoke inhalation. She
and her son assumed that the ferret, who was not found by the fire
fighters, had perished. Her son felt awful for having the ferret jump
out of his grasp and was taking it very, very badly. Upon being
discharged from the hospital, she met the insurance adjuster at the
burned house, when they went in the front door, there was the ferret
waiting for her. She called her son to let him know of this miracle
of the ferret being alive, and waiting for them. He was unharmed and
arranged for him to be boarded at the local dog kennel. Once she found
out about us, she called to ask if we could help her. Although the
ferret was safe at the dog kennel, she was concerned that no one was
paying attention to him and he was stressed out with the barking dogs
and a squawking parrot.

Of course, we have taken this ferret in, we are spoiling him and
assured her that he can stay as long as he needs to. We felt it was the
least that we could do given the amount of help that all of you have
given us, in a "pay it forward" type of fashion. He is doing well and
we also gave her and her son four of our tee shirts as they lost most
of their clothing in the fire as well.

Now the ICE:
It was one of those busy days at work (at the mortgage company),
beginning with a miserable commute on an icy, slushy, snowy day, when
my cell phone rings, I don't recognize the number, I let it go to voice
mail with the nagging feeling that I should have picked up. I take a
walk down the corridor and listen to the voice mail. Someone has found
a ferret, frozen in the slush and snow out through the woods, in an
open field. I look outside, the trees are bending over in the wind and
the sign temperature shows 12 degrees, I shudder inside.

Her dogs were taking a run and stopped to sniff something (or should I
say, "someone").

There in an inch or two of frozen slush was a ferret. It looked dead,
she nudged it with her foot and he moved his head. She reached down and
put the frozen ferret inside her coat and rushed across the field with
the sounds of her husband's voice falling behind her with words of
caution. She didn't care, she was a Vet Tech.

She got him back to her house, warmed up some towels in the dryer and
blotted him dry, she wrapped warm cloths around his feet and mid
section. She put warm water into a bowl and lifted his head, he opened
his eyes and drank the warm water, and drank, and drank and drank.

When her cell phone rang it was me calling her back.

I couldn't leave work to go fetch him, and was about to put in a call
to one of my friends for help to get him to the vets and into the
incubator. She offered to drive him there, it was a few towns away from
her location. I called ahead to let the vets office know that we had
another emergency to get the incubator ready and warm up fluids. Within
the hour, the ferret temperature was up to normal, blood glucose ok,
and eating some of the dook soup we leave at the vets for just such an
occasion. He spent the day resting at the vets, and I was able to pick
him up after work. I was happy to call her with the ferret sleeping on
my lap in the waiting room surrounded by a group of Girl Scouts who
were gathering to learn about animals and go for their Pet Care Badge.
Before they even started their meeting they were oohing, and blinking
back tears as I told them how this little ferret was found that day in
the slush, frozen.

We have named him Norwood O'Brien, "Woody" for short, after the place
where he was found and his Angel rescuer who happened to be a vet tech.

No matter what you believe, these three stories are true. they can't
be coincidence...

Guess we really picked the perfect motto for our shelter:

Caring for God's Fuzzy Little Miracles

Diane - South Shore Ferret Care

[Posted in FML 6617]