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!!!
 
Please print this.  I've sent it before & you didn't print.  People out
there want answers.
 
[Posted in FML issue 0669]