What am I, crazy?
Hi all, I'm just back from vacation in northern Wisconsin where luckily
it was not so hot as southern Wisc and Chicago...  I thought I'd share
a few travel tips we learned along the 20 hour drive from Montreal to
Wisconsin.  All of this is for people who let their ferret run loose in
the car.  Tip #1-- one litterbox, in a small hatchback, is not enough.
A car has many corners.  Tip #2-- A good way to deal with the eternal
tipping the water dish problem is to build a stand for a water bottle.
Mine is a ugly but functional affair made of heavy wire and a wooden
base.  It will still drip on bumpy highways, but at least it isn't as
bad as seeing your ferret tip over the entire water dish yet again.
Tip #3-- Our ferret, at least, doesn't seem aware that the car is going
very fast and wanted to leap out the windows.  We have AC, and we lucked
out with our travel weather, so we just kept them closed, but I shudder
to think... So I won't.
   Customs went very smoothly both in the US and Canada.  We passed thru
sleepy Sault Ste Marie at four in the morning.  Happily Amelia was
sleepy too and was under a seat.  I'd covered the collapsable cage (BTW,
thanks to Pam Greene for the idea, and also for the travel bag demo)
with a blanket, so since the customs guard did not ask if we had any
animals, I didn't mention it.  She's perfectly legal anyway, but this
was less complicated.  Going back into Canada, the Canadian customs
official perceptively noted the cage and asked if we had a cat.  I
decided honesty was the best policy here and said that we had a domestic
ferret (I guess that would be travel tip #4-- always call them  domestic
ferrets when talking to officials) who had come from Canada with us, and
that we had her rabies certification.  The guard did not ask to see the
ferret or the papers and waved us through.  So, it worked for us.  Now,
if I could only bring Amelia to visit my parents in Mass...
   There's a billion things I want to comment on in the FML since I
came back, but this has gone on way long already, so I'll spare you all.
What's up in Massachusetts?  Condolences to all those who have lost
their friends in the last month...
Happy to be back,
Regina and Amelia (but I miss that cat)
Alley the cat in Wisconsin (I _do not_ miss that weasel)
[Posted in FML issue 1279]