Hello, all!
 
I've been lurking and reading for quite awhile, now, and thought it high
time to say "Hello!"
 
I'm a graduate student, living in Chicago with my wonderful child, Scout.
Scout is one of the smarter ferrets I've known...  she gets into everything
and acquires anything not nailed down!  Her favorites are socks (of course!)
stuffed animals, fleece clothing, and the phone cord.  Nothing is funnier
than watching Scout carry off a stuffed animal which is about twice her
size...  she has to lift her head way up high and try to keep from stepping
on it as she scampers off!  :) Anyway, I've had Scout since birth...  her
Mom was a Marshall Farms ferret that I got so I could study the development
of locomotor patterns in ferrets (but that's another story all-together).
She's five years and 4 days old, now.  :) She's in good health and very
active, but I think she misses my other baby, Princess, who died back in
March.  (Princess was an ex-Marshall's breeder...  she was one of the
pregnant Moms that I got for my study...).  She was about 6 (or 7?) when she
died.  One of these days I'd like to get another fuzzy...  but I don't
really know where to go in the Chicago area to find one that isn't
outrageously expensive (grad.  students are not known for having excess
money to be spent on anything, whatsoever...).  Anyway, my baby is really
quite sweet with me...  sometimes she'll bite people when she first meets
them ("But, Mom, you never told me not to bite *that* person!), or will try
to steal other people's socks right off their feet (she doesn't try that
with me, anymore).  She'll ride around on my shoulder for a little while,
but she gets bored easily and has no fear of falling (probably because I
always catch her and set her down...).  :) Sometimes we play "chase"...
she'll actually chase me from one end of the apartment to the other, and
then looks startled when I chase her back :)...  she does her war dance and
just charges back into the fray!  I usually will counter by grabbing a
plastic grocery bag, shaking it so it makes noise, then throwing into the
air above her head...  she backs up, dancing all the while, and then pounces
on the bag when it hits the floor!  (Other than helping herself to my food,
digging up my plants, and stealing my socks, this is her favorite game!) ;)
 
Anyway, I guess I've blathered on long enough...  Just wanted to say "Hi"
and introduce myself!  Scout will be proud of me, I'm sure.  :) It's really
great to read about other ferrets and hear about health and political
problems, risks, and solutions!  Keep it up!!  :)
 
---Janis (age 26), and Scout (5)
[Posted in FML issue 1351]