I should make it clear that even though Maila is quite deaf, she has adapted
extremely well.  At first she was easily startled, but now she can tell when
we are around, probably by the vibrations in the floor.  She's still very
rambunctious, and *easily* irritated (and she lets you know it).
 
Yesterday, I was carrying her around in the crook of my arm, and had to go
downstairs for something.  She'd never been in the basement, so I thought
she'd be interested in all the new sights and smells.  Well, as we were
going down the steps she peed on me!  I looked at her and her eyes were wide
open and she was clinging to me like Velcro.  I went back upstairs and put
her down, and she commenced the crazy weasel dance.  Later, after I had
washed up a bit, I tried it again.  Same result.  I've never before had a
weasel up and pee on me.
 
A couple other odd things about Maila: when the light hits her eyes just
right so that they shine back at you, it's obvious that one is red and the
other is green.  When she's in the dark and stares in your direction she
looks like a traffic light.  She also runs in an odd way.  Most ferrets I
know will break into a loping, synchronized front and rear leg motion when
they reach a certain speed.  She just speeds up all four of her feet until
they are a blur.  It's hilarious when you're used to seeing the up/down
motion of a ferret running, and then see her beelining horizontally with all
four legs moving furiously.  I have only seen her run "normally" once or
twice.
 
---
Randy A. Brown
[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1577]