I'm starting to develop a theory and wanted to see if anyone could confirm
it.  My guess is that each fuzzy has good coat years and not so good coat
years (kind of like fruit trees) and that it doesn't necessarily have
anything to do with the temperature.
 
Last year Nico (age 3.5, and born in the early spring so she's starting on
her 3rd winter coat now) was the biggest fluff ball you would ever want to
see, soft as angora, thick and luxiourius (she turned from chocolate to
light caffe au lait colored), much nicer than the year before.  Ozzie grew
her first winter coat last year.  She is always super soft and did seem to
be more so, but not as nice as Nico.  Poor Gunther was sick and never did
develop much insulation.  The strange thing was we were in the apartement
then, without control of the heat, and the place was practically 80 degrees
all winter.  (It was a real drag.  We'd invite friends over and forget to
warn them and there we would be in shorts and t-shirts and there they would
be in turtlenecks and sweaters and mighty uncomfortable).
 
This year we are in a drafty old house paying for our own heat, so naturally
the place is quite a bit colder (around 67 degrees).  So far none of the
guys has put on much of a coat.  Nico and Ozzie seem to be lightening up,
but neither seem to have an excess of underfur.  Poor Gunther is pretty bald
now, although we have noticed that he's growing some more tufts on his
stomach (We tried to get him to wear a sock with holes cut into it but he
flat out refused.  It takes us 5 or 10 minutes to get it on him, and him 5
or 10 seconds to get it off.  I guess he's worried about his macho
reputation.  Now we just have extra old sweaters in the cage and we noticed
that he found himself quite the cozy spot to nap in the arm of the armchair
right next to the heating vent).
 
So, is it just that it hasn't been cold long enough (in Delaware its only
been chilly for a month or so), that last year was a good year for
Nico-coats and this year isn't, or that the ferret room is too shaded and
they aren't getting enough natural light?  What do you think?
 
Norris (female and 30, by the way)
for Mark, Gunther, Nico, & Oswalt (the only Oswalt ferret in the name
list, I noticed)
[Posted in FML issue 1387]