Pamela Barber asked:
> Other than the tricks that the carpet sharks have learned themselves
>(opening drawers from the inside, dumping drinks, etc.) has anyone ever
> taught their ferret any tricks to do?
 
Yes, certainly.  Both our ferrets stand up and roll over on verbal
... er, requests. :-) We don't even have to wave treats in front of
their noses, though they react much more quickly if they've seen or
heard the raisin tub.  The first trick was very easy to teach, the
second a little harder, but that might be because we were less
diligent about it.
 
Heather Hildebrandt said:
> The bookcase remains to be a favorite haunt for all three.  One
> ferret will knock over the books
> [...]
> being an engineering student most of those books are awfully heavy
> and I am afraid they could topple on one of the ferrets when I was
> not looking.
 
Exactly my worry -- my husband and I are engineering and physics
students, too.  We've never figured out how to keep the ferrets from
pushing books off the shelves, so we just keep the heavy ones either
up out of reach or down at the very bottom, where they won't be moving
as fast if they fall.
 
We have considered tying the books into the shelves by running a piece
of string right along their spines, about halfway up, so they had to
be lifted up to be taken out.  I don't know if that would stand up to
an inquisitive ferret's determination, though.
 
- Pam in Rochester, NY  ([log in to unmask])
Pixxel "But if I roll onto my back, Rusty'll pounce me, I just know it!"
Rusty "You want me to balance on -how- many legs?  And for -how- long?"
[Posted in FML issue 1046]