Re: Plant digging...HELP!
 
Ferrets are much like 4-yr old humans in that it is *much* easier to remove the
"temptation for trouble" than it is to curb their innate ability to find
trouble and get into trouble. Use "4-yr old psychology" on them - what they
don't see can't get them into trouble!
 
 It's better to move your plants out of your ferret's reach. Hang your
housplants, move them to shelves the ferret can't get to (they can be amazing
climbers!),  move them to an "off-limits" room or area, etc.
 
I would be extremely wary of covering the soil to keep them from digging the
dirt out of the pots. There are many houseplants that can poison or make your
ferret (children, dogs, cats, etc.) very sick. You should not have any plant in
their reach that is poisonous because they can and will chew on them. There are
pamphlets available from poison control centers or maybe even your vet/doctor
that covers dangerous house plants.
 
If you are going to cover the soil and leave a plant in their reach, I would
advise doing your homework on what kind of plant it is and any effects the
plant have if ingested. Try an indoor herb garden!
 
Our ferrets, Squirt and Pippi, ***LOVE*** dirt! They often help me in the
garden by excavating huge holes . (Huge to them!) They chuckle and roll in the
dirt since it makes them so happy. The Divot Duo deeply digging dirt!  My
husband and I call dirt the "Ferret Aphrodisiac."  I personally wouldn't even
try to break your ferret's digging habits - it's in their blood. Look at their
paws. That webbing is just as much or more for digging than it is for swimming.
 
-kim, mike, squirt   "Dirt Diggers Unite!", and
pippi  "The Sockinator"  -  "Are you Sarah Connor's socks?"
 
  Kimberly Burkard          |              _     Everything I needed to know in
  Xerox, Rochester, NY      |       _____C .._.  life I learned from my ferret:
  [log in to unmask]   |  ____/     \___/   Be flexible and go with life's
  [log in to unmask]  | <____/\_---\_\     twists and turns.
[Posted in FML issue 1077]