On the underground this Saturday:
 
Natasja decided to crawl into my shirt and try to exit via a sleeve.
Unfortunately she got stuck, so I had to bring out my little pen knife
and cut off one of buttons by the cuff to let her out. Fortunately
enough I could handle Alison to a friendly woman I met on train,
otherwise it would've been problematical to get off at the right stop
with both of them.
 
On snow:
 
Last year, my ferrets liked to play in the snow, but this winter we
haven't been out much the last two weeks, because they don't seem to
like it anymore. Yesterday it was warm (+5 degC) and almost dry on the
ground so we could be out almost an hour. It sure was appreciated and
must have changed their sleeping habits, as today they stayed awake for
two hours after I came home from the office. It can't have been a result
of more daylight, as the sun still is only up between 0845 and 1445.
 
On trimming nails:
 
My policy is to do nothing in case of a cutting accident resulting in
bleeding. It stops by itself in a few minutes. Exactly how it was
treated by veterinarians the time it happened on purpose for AD testing.
 
It seems like ferrets' nails follow our growth pattern: Front ones grow
four times faster than rear ones. Right or wrong?
 
On ancestry:
 
It's correct to say that our pet ferrets are decended from animals used
for hunting and rodent control, and that fitch are a ferret-polecat
hybrid, isn't it? Some people here in Sweden maintain that our pet
ferrets actually are further domesticated versions of fitch, and that
"hunting ferrets" are much too vicious to keep as pets.
 
I don't doubt that some (or even most) "ferrets" sold in pet stores are
fitch, but fitch = Mustela putorius just like polecats, aren't they?
 
To me, it seems more likely that some of us keep fitch as pets, than
that there are four distinct kinds of Mustala putorius, but is it likely
I'm wrong?
--
 Urban Fredriksson  [log in to unmask]
 
[Posted in FML issue 0675]