Bob Church said:
 
>mention of ferret or polecat.  (Older King James versions say 'ferret' but
>that has been proven to be a mistranslation of the Hebrew for 'gecko.')
 
Gecko                                   Ferret
-----                                   ------
long, slinky                            long, slinky
bites                                   bites
cute toes                               cute toes
often has a 'huh?' expression           ditto
escape artist                           goes without saying
 
i suggest everyone double-check to make sure they havent accidentally gone
off and bought GECKOS for their pets.  clever geckos are EVERYWHERE, donning
fur coats and fake plastic fangs - they could be invading YOUR household in
the guise of our hapless weasels!
 
re: plastic bags - I had a terrifying incident with Potpie once.  I used to
leave the plastic shopping bags around for her to play in, as they're easily
her favorite ever toy.  One night, while getting ready to go out and see
Anonymous 4 sing at a local church, i heard a weak and persistent scrabbling
coming from inside a plastic bag under my bed.  At first, it sounded like
her average play noises, but after a minute it persisted and i pulled her
out to find her shaking, weak, wet, and frothing at the mouth.  she'd clawed
at her mouth and torn the skin on her gums and face until she bled.  The
nearest i can figure is that she'd fallen asleep and stuck her nose into a
corner, or turned over and gotten her nose blocked by bag, then panicked and
woke up as her air supply suddenly stopped.  she obviously couldnt find her
way out of the bag.  That was two years ago, and only just recently have i
started giving her plastic bags again, but 1) only one bag, 2) i always know
where it is, 3) it's HUGE, and 4) i'm almost always watching her with it.
Noodle and Friday dont get them at all, as they are prone to falling asleep
in anything.
 
re: cats - just to relate a funny story - I got a new roommate recently, and
she brought her cat Bonnie in.  Anyway, Bonnie has no exp. w/ferrets, and
Potpie and her were out with me and my SO on my balcony the other day.
Potpie ignores cats unless she can attack them 'under cover,' so to speak,
so she was just scampering around, digging in the planter dirt, etc.  Bonnie
watched her warily, and once Potpie blindly ran right up under her nose,
then stopped as she looked up to see Bonnie, who'd slowly raised one paw to
either bat at Potpie playfully or warn her; Potpie backed up sloooowwwly,
then ran off to dig around more.  Bonnie ignored her after that.  :)
 
Noodle, btw, will viciously attack any and every cat he sees. Friday and
Potpie ignore cats unless 1) it's on a bed and they can sneak in under
the sheets to attack from below, or 2) it runs from them. Chase! heehee.
 
Melissa and the zoo
 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Melissa Litwicki                              "Is it ... atomic?"
      [log in to unmask]                             "Yes! VERY atomic!"
[Posted in FML issue 1609]