[Odd, you're not on the mailing list...  Please use a mailer that knows that
lines are < 80 columns.]
 
Nash is our first ferret, a five year old sterling silver, and our baby.
We got him in 1988 when he was about 4 weeks old.  He was so tiny, he
couldn't even eat real food yet.  We had to make a mash for him (wetted
down crushed food), and he had trouble with that!  It would stick to the
roof of his mouth, and we'd have to scrape it out.  It's a miracle he
didn't starve to death.
 
NEVER NEVER PUT YOUR FERRET IN CARGO if you don't want to find him or
her dead on arrival.  I've heard many stories of animals (not just
ferrets) freezing to death in cargo, and not all airline personnel are
considerate enough to warn you.
 
We take Nash everywhere with us.  If he can't go, we don't.  He's flown
to California, Houston, Memphis, Milwaukee, Newark, Chicago....on
Southwest and yes, Continental.  We just don't tell.  What, you say?
Unethical?  Bah.  This is my baby, remember?
 
The key is a small carrier stuffed horizontally inside a drawstring
laundry bag.  We close the drawsting, carry the cage by the handle, and
it looks like a piece of luggage.  Strange, maybe, but there are a lot
of strange people in this world.
 
Southwest Airlines doesn't allow animals, period.  When we flew to
California, we smuggled him.  I went through the x-ray with a cage full
of magazines, sewing, etc.  My husband went into the bathroom and put
Nash into a small drawstring bag and stuffed him into his coat, zipped
it up, and came through about 15 minutes after me.  Voila!  No problems.
Once at the gate, we shifted the junk to another bag, and Nash into his
cage.
 
And on Continental, we've never had a problem.  (Well, only once in
Chicago, a woman ran after us screaming.  But we were returning home and
we certainly weren't going to leave our child in Chicago.  We explained
that we had gotten there without a problem, paid $40 for a ticket, and
Nash came aboard with us.) We carry him in the cage, and take him out
and walk him through the x-ray, just like a camera.  People ooh and ahh
and ask questions, but never protest.  We put him back in the cage and
carry on.  One screaming lady and about 20 flights.  Not bad.
 
If you're too goody-twoshoes to do this, you obviously don't love your
ferret as much as we do.  Happy travelling!!!
 
[Posted in FML issue 0642]