Thought I would throw in a few more games we all play here is little 'ol
Missouri.  Yes, almost all my ferret toys are recycled junk, and yes, almost
all my games increase the physical fitness of the fuzzbutts.
 
Webmaster: Take your hanging plant of the hook, and hang a basket so it is
about 2 feet from the floor.  Staple cheesecloth or other open weave fabric
to the edges of the basket so the free end drags on the floor.  Watching
them climb up and swing back and forth is a hoot.
 
Submarine: Fill the bathtub with 3 or 4 inches of water.  Float a dozen or
so pingpong balls; each lightly wiped with ferrettone.  (Those tiny plastic
footballs work well also).  I put a homemade pine and masonite ladder over
the tub so the beasts can easily climb in and out.
 
Pickle Race: I take the broken bits and dust from the bottom of the ferret
food bags and mix with Manteca Lard...no, just kidding.  I dampen the
crushed chow, mix in a little peanut butter, and mold tiny pickles about 1
inch long.  After oven drying, I spray on some ferrettone for that wonderful
odor.  I call the beasties, let them sniff the "pickles" until they are
frothing at the mouth, then toss them one at a time across the room (The
ferrets, not the pickles....Ok, kidding again).  At first they will wonder
where it evaporated too, but time and odor will teach them to do what my
fuzzballs do--run, in mass, after the pickle.  Clue.  Always use the same
sound to call them, and as soon as they get across the floor, use the sound
and all but the one with the pickle will return.  Throw another pickle.  I
do this until everyone has a pickle; usually Bear gets the first one, and
then crawls all over me until I throw him a second one.
 
Turtle: I cut up cardboard boxes and assemble new boxes that are about 6in
by 8 in, no tops, and a U-shaped cut-out at one end.  I put one over each
fuzzy, and they run around like turtles.
 
Sliders: Buy a 5 ft section of while PVC pipe, 4-5 inchs in diameter ($2-3).
Prop one end up on the sofa, and watch them slide down the tube.
 
Freak-Out: Fill a paper bag with all the crumpled paper balls it will hold,
and then dump them on a playfull ferret.
 
Have fun!
 
Bob and the 13 Wacky Weasels
[Posted in FML issue 1551]