Greetings ferret friends and fellow fanciers!
 
Well, after plowing through a backlog of a months worth of FMLs, I've sworn
never to get so far behind again!  Regardless of work and University
pressures, this list gives me a warm fuzzy feeling about warm fuzzies and
all you great people that befriend them.  I'm so sorry to hear about all the
little ones who are sick or have departed, my sympathy to all.
 
Re Catherine Schaffer's (?) question about winter temperatures, I live in
Canberra, Australia, where it generally drops below zero over night in
Winter.  (This is in Australia - I can't remember whether I'm talking about
Celsius or Fahrenheit but it's not the same one that Americans use, so when
I say zero, I mean the zero at which water freezes!) Our girls sleep in
their cage overnight, which (shock!  horror!) is in the garage.  While it
doesn't get as cold in the garage as it does outside, it still gets pretty
chilly.  We're well into Spring now, but we didn't have any trouble over
Winter - Millie caught one cold, but that was from kissing me when I had a
cold.  We just make sure that we fill their nesting box with PLENTY of warm
bedding material - they're particularly fond of old sweaters and fuzzy
tracksuit pants - in fact, Jarrod sacrificed his favourite pair because the
little girls love to sleep in them so much!  They rearrange all the old
sweaters etc to give them a nice cosy nest to snuggle in, and stay toasty
warm all night.  We found that they developed the most fantastic winter
coats - really warm and thick, soft and downy...
 
...which leads me to my next question.  As I said, we're well into spring
now.  Last Autumn, (when the US was heading into Spring!  Confusing, isn't
it?!) , I had an absolute hoot reading all your stories about ferrets with
Spring Fever.  Well, we're experiencing it now!  Ferrets bouncing off the
walls, down the stairs, around the house, onto and off the waterbed...and
then it starts all over again!  Millie has found her voice, and now we can't
shut her up!  Her latest nickname is Goosey-Goosey-Gander as she goes
dooking around the house sounding for all the world like an insane midget
goose!  Sinbad is a bit more laid back and cruises around chuckling quietly
to herself as she plans her next fiendish pen/sock/remote control/sneaker
heist...
 
Any way, the aforementioned winter coats are rapidly shedding, leaving a
trail of floating, ephemeral ferret-fur wisps, which hang in the air, stick
to clothes, turn up in our dinner...you know what its like?  Every time I go
for a ferret kiss I get a faceful (noseful, earful, mouthful) of ferret-fur!
I was wondering if anyone had ever tried brushing their ferrets?  We always
do that for the dogs when they're moulting but I fear we'd have less success
with two hyperactive weasels...Also, any suggestions on how often we should
be giving them Kitty-Malt?  I don't want any hairball blockages...
 
Mo' Bob: I hope that Bob's Bone Fantasy isn't some kind of delayed shock
reaction or emotional hang-up resulting from your recent Bob Bobbit
incident?  ;)
 
Well I've definitely used up my word limit, so regards to all and cheers!
 
Sophie, Sinbad (AKA Evil-Weasel) and Millie-Goosey-Gander.
[Posted in FML issue 1718]