Someone else asked about couches...
 
I also want to know how you guys keep them out.
 
My ferrets have completely destroyed a couch by digging behind the
cushions so that they can climb inside.  I've seen people post about
boarding up the bottom- but nothing about the rest of the couch.  We
are going to buy another couch soon...I don't want this one destroyed
as well (the other one didn't belong to me anyway :) ).  I even used
to remove the cushions, but they'd still dig at the crack before
crawling inside, clawing at who-knows-what, then falling asleep.
 
~escape story:
 
I kept the ferrets in the bedroom at my last apartment.  I hadn't
lived there long when I let them loose in the apartment once while I
attempted to deflea the bedroom.  I came out to get them for their
bath and couldn't find Judy anywhere.  Finally I heard her scratching
in the bathtub.  "Thank God I found her" I thought to myself as I
followed the sound of the scratching into the bathroom only to peer
into the empty bathroom.  I continued to hear the scratching.  Further
investigation revealed that the toilet plumbing pipes had an oversized
wall hole.  She was scratching at the bathtub from inside of the
walls.  I panicked as I figured the apartment next to us might have a
similar hole in the wall.  I could just see Judy popping out in the
bathroom right next to ours and someone finding a "rat" in their
bathroom.  I had to pour some raisins into a tupperware container and
shake it for a while before she found her way back.
 
 
fyi my plane trip:
 
American West won't let you put your ferrets in the same carrier
unless they are littermates, which I thought was completely stupid.
Their reasoning was that they didn't want them doing anything
..naughty.. in front of little kids on the plane.  (Since when do
animals follow anti-inbreeding laws?)  Well geez, mine aren't siblings
but they've never done anything.  They're both
neutered/spade/whatever.  So I told AmWest they were littermates.
What are they going to do? ask for proof?  Actually, they did require
that the health certificate state that they were littermates, so my
vet put it on there for me.  (Another stupid thing on AmWest's part
because how would the vet know if they were littermates?)  Keeping
them in the same carrier meant I only had to pay $50 instead of $100.
Also, AmWest required them to be tranquilized.  Well, after asking fml
opinion and talking with the vet, I lied about that too.  Except for
take-off and landing, they slept the whole trip anyway.  All went
well.
 
 
Robin & Sam    (those who have raisins)
Judy and Timmy (patiently waiting for treats)
               we live in phoenix now, eh.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0966]