Hello to all fuzzy friends!
 
I have several things for ya'll.  First - a follow up to the recent
story of psychological aggrivation for the cat.  Slinky is now about 6
months old, and really wants to be friends with Leila (the cat).  At
the start, he saw Leila as another toy - something that moved when you
chased her.  Since Leila has owned ther house for most of her six
years, that didn't sit too well with her.  In fact, I trained her to
accept Slinky with two weeks of feeding her little bits of ham or
turkey whenever Slinky came near, which worked like a charm.
 
Independently, though, Slinky figured out that Leila didn't like fast
moving things.  Every time he is bopping around and sees Leila nearby,
he freezes, then very slowly moves towards her.  While he has never
gotten to cuddle with her, he can get to within about six inches just
about every time.  A few times he has been so patient in his moves that
he has fallen asleep while waiting for his next step!  After getting
very close, though, Leila usually runs away, and Slink gets pretty
excited, forgets, and chases after.
 
Second - if there are any people with ferret permits in the Ithaca, NY
or central NY area, a friend of mine could use a hand.  She has fallen
in love with a ferret, but the people she is trying to get it from will
not let her take it without showing a NY permit, nor will they hold it
for her.  She has been trying desperately to find someone with a
permit.  If anyone can help her out, it would be much appreciated.
Her name is Connnie, and her phone # is 607-255-1191 (leave a message
on her machine).
 
Unfortunately, this will be my last posting for a while.  Besides being
owned by a small fuzzy one, I am also a field biologist who does
research on whales.  Each winter I take off for the Sea of Cortez for
3-4 weeks of work on blue and fin whales, and I leave on Friday.  I'll
be back at the end of March, and will be back on-line then.  Until
then, I hope all of your carpet sharks do well and you have a great
time with them.
 
Two final things - to Pam Greene - can you send the whole FAQ, since I
will miss much of it?  Also - I apologize for the geeky middle initial
in my signature - I realized much to my distress it was there.  It has
been remedied!
 
Best - Mason, Slinky (who is excited to be going to stay with Elin,
where there are 3 cats to chase!!), and Leila (the cat who has seen
this all before, but hopes Dad is coming back soon!).
 
[Posted in FML issue 0723]