Originally my daughter Elizabeth was going to write this but she just
didn't feel up to it so I agreed to do it for her.
 
In the past I've posted anonymously but as you will see that is no
longer necessary.  A few days ago my daughter's ferret Albert got out of
his cage which was in our garage at the time.  Once out of the cage it
was easy for him to get outside.  Usually when he has been loose (under
close watch) in our yard he tended to stay pretty close so we had hopes
that as soon as he tired of his little adventure he would come home.
After a day of looking and waiting my daughter decided to make up
pamphlets to pass around the neighborhood.  When she got to our next
door neighbor's house she found a note on the door to the Humane Society
regarding a "strange" dead animal they had found in their yard that they
wanted picked up.  Yes, it was Albert.  He had been unable to resist the
lure of their pool.  Needless to say my daughter was (and still is)
quite upset about this.
 
Albert is now buried under one of his favorite spots next to the cherry
tree in our yard.  This is where he spent most of his yard time either
curled up sleeping or attacking mysterious phantoms.
 
It's amazing how attached to him we all had became.  As mischievous as
he was he didn't have a malicious bone in his body.  I'll miss not
having him pester the daylights out of me while I puttered around the
yard.  I suspect our pooch will too.  He and Al used to enjoy rough
housing together.  In spite of the fact that the dog outweighed the
ferret by 30 or 40 times Al would throw himself on him mercilessly over
and over again until he was too exhausted to continue.  And of course
anyone waring socks was at risk.
 
We still haven't figured out how he managed to get the cage open though
he could be damned persistent about things at times.  Still I would have
thought it was beyond his ability to unloosen the spring clip that held
his cage door shut.  A lessen learned too late I'm afraid.
 
Elizabeth isn't sure whether she's ready for another ferret at this
time; maybe later.  Anyway, I don't know how much longer I'll be staying
on the list.  Neither Elizabeth or I feel much like reading about other
peoples ferrets at the moment.
 
Regards,
 
Roland (for Elizabeth)
 
[Posted in FML issue 0953]