To Tater and Paw Paw,
 
Catching up on my reading, I noticed Tater said "Paw Paw had graduated from
being a speed bump in the bed to being an inert lump in his recliner".
 
***** RECLINER ****  <gasp>
 
Burn that thing before Tater gets squashed like an old taterbug.  One of the
first hard lessons I learned about ferret ownership is that Recliners,
Rockers, Hide-a-beds, and most Sofas and Couches are deadly to ferrets.  Any
moveable furniture is a serious danger in a house with ferrets.
 
I heard one person say that Recliners are the number one cause of accidental
ferret deaths, (though I have not been able to track them down again to
verify their source) for this info.  At any rate, sadly, I can speak from
experience.
 
I know that you are as careful as you can be with this, but please realize
that humans are just that, HUMAN.  We make mistakes, we forget things, we
get distracted, etc., etc..  No matter how careful we are, *accidents
happen*, if you read the FML regularly, you know this is true even among the
best of ferret care-givers.  Dusty (my first) was accidentally killed by a
recliner.  The person who killed her was very careful and everyone avoided
the recliner when she was out, but one time (and it only takes one time), he
came in from working and, tired and preocupied with other things on his
mind, simply sat in the recliner this ONE-TIME, before he thought to look
for Dusty.  Her head was crushed, and she died quickly, even before we knew
what had happened.  There was no way to help her, no vet visit to fix it, no
going back once it was done.
 
I know you folks love little Tater to death and would never want to see
anything hurt him.  We FML readers love Tater too, and love reading his
stories and adventures.  Please listen to me and get rid of the recliner,
NOW, before it is too late.  (FML readers, let's hear from you!)
 
Okay Tater, you have a job here, it is up to you to see that Paw Paw gets
rid of that nasty old killer-recliner.  It'll gitcha!!  We sure don't want
you to be a "mashed Tater", now.
 
Thanks for listening, --  Trish.
[Posted in FML issue 1479]