For those of you that have been rescuing ferrets from the dryer, I have
another story to add:
 
I sorted the laundry into three piles on the floor (jeans, whites, darks) and
started the process.  After the whites were thru washing, I put them in the
dryer, and picked up the pile of jeans and stuffed them into the washer and
started the cycles.  About 15 minutes later, I heard an odd sound, and
thought maybe I had loaded the jeans unevenly into the washer.  I opened the
top, and to my horror, there was Bobbin (black-eyed white female, at the time
about 6 yrs old) desperately trying to stay on top of the churning water!  I
grabbed her and rushed her to the sink to rinse all the soapy water off.
After I dried her, she did not do the usual ferret antics after a bath, but
vomited up some water and had diarrhea.  Then she looked at me in an
accusatory manner: "I know you said I needed a bath, mom, but that was
ridiculous!" and crawled into the remaining pile of laundry to go to sleep.
 
Morals to this story:  (1) You can never be too careful around ferrets, even
when you thought you knew all their behaviors after 6 years. (2) The bath in
"Cheer Free" left an amazingly soft white coat, although I would not
recommend it as ferret shampoo. (3) Get your ferrets out of the washer BEFORE
the spin cycle. (4) The experience was obviously not a learning one as Bobbin
continued to sleep in laundry piles for the remainder of her life. (5) After
feeling terribly guilty about miscare of your babies, it is possible to
laugh.
 
- Happy Ferreting from Erika, Misty, Sasha, and Lizzy
[Posted in FML issue 1140]