Bob Church wrote:
 
>By the way, the bathing habits of my carpet-sharks is not because the smell
>of ferret is offensive to me; I'm a mammalogist and have smelled far worse.
 
and I laughed and laughed.  Bob, do mammologists usually smell far worse
than ferrets?   :)
 
I have only given my ferrets one bath each so far, but I do try to create
situations that will encourage them to play in the water.  I didn't spend
several years teaching swimming for nothing! When I have a shower I take
Maddy's favourite squeaky toys in with me, and I drape an old towel over the
side of the bathtub so she'll be able to climb into the tub with me if she
chooses.  Then I'll squeak a toy, and sometimes a water-hating Madeline will
come bounding into the shower to retrieve a treasure.  By the time she's
rescued ten toys -one by one - the poor darling is soaking wet, but she's
still ready to play and will do it again if I get out and bring her toys
back into the shower with me.  Good game, but sometimes I forget to rinse
the shampoo off until the water starts getting cold!
 
I have also set up a ferret swimming pool in the kitchen.  (I guess this
fits in with the "how spoiled is your ferret" thread, doesn't it?)  Our pool
is the largest plastic container we could find, the kind that one would use
for storing one's summer clothing in over the winter.
 
The bottom of the pool, being plastic, is too slippery for ferret feet, so I
put a shingle there for a bit of traction.  Then I put in several bricks, so
that there are "islands" of repose.  The brick in the middle usually has a
cheerio or a raisin on it, and the only way to get that treat is to get
one's feet wet.  :)  This leads to some hilarious situations.
 
Maddy doesn't *want* to get her feet wet, but she does like to drink from
the water.  The side of the pool is 8 1/2 inches high, so she reaches up,
leans over, and hangs by her tummy (feet off the floor) to get to the water.
This is a hoot to watch.
 
Theo, my adorable 8-week old baby, will walk in the water over to Raisin
Island (only a couple of steps) but he's sometimes a bit uncoordinated,
which means that he occasionally falls in.  Oops!  Once he sat on a brick,
pondering the water for quite a while, and then stuck his head completely
under the water!  It was so funny to see this wee small fuzzit with his face
dripping wet.  And then he did it right away again!
 
Christine
and an elegant, beautiful Madeline
and a small, fuzzy, adorable Theodore.
 
--
Christine Code                     We shall find peace.
Vancouver, CANADA                  We shall hear the angels,
[log in to unmask]                      We shall see the sky
http://www2.portal.ca/~cmc         Sparkling with diamonds.   - Chekhov
[Posted in FML issue 1349]