(I had spent most of the night and half of the morning playing with my
webpage, checking out links to add to it, scanning pictures, and writing
letters to folks.  I finally crawled into the bed about 9AM this morning.  I
was much too worn out to notice that Tater & Odie snuck out as I entered the
bedroom.  I slept for a few hours and dreamed of Otter and Eagle, and of the
time when I was a young boy.  A peaceful and restful sleep.
 
I awoke to the scent of the beef stew I made yesterday as Mee Maw rewarmed
it on the stove.  My hunger was great so I didn't notice that niether of the
guys was curled up beside me.  Still wiping the sleep from my eyes, I limped
into the kitchen and gratefully accepted a steaming plate of stew from my
kind and loving wife.  The stew was even better than it was last night, and
my plate was soon empty.  I stiffled a satisfied burp as I came into the
pooter room and settled down to catch up on some mail.
 
Imagine my surprise when I found Tater and Odie curled up together and
sleeping soundly in my chair.  I gently picked up an armfull of sleepy
weasels, took them to the bedroom, and put them on my pillow.  When I
finally settled into my pooter chair and looked at the screen, I saw what
follows.  It seems that the guys were very busy while I slept.  I guess they
were pretty upset when they found out that some of our best friends live in
a FFZ.)
 
Dear folks who don't like folks like us,
 
Our names are Tater and Odie.  We are ferrets.  We live in Atlanta, Georgia
with our Mee Maw, our Paw Paw, and our nine cat-type buddies.  We have a lot
of fun just being ourselves and playing with the other members of our
family.  We like to sleep a lot, eat a lot, and play a lot.  Mostly, we like
the playing the best.  Sometimes, when we don't have anything better to do,
we like to snuggle and cuddle with anyone who seems to need it at the time.
We can be very loving when we want to be.  You see, we aren't wild animals.
We are folks just like you are.  We guess that the only difference between
you and us is that we love everybody who will give us a chance to get to
know them.  We don't tell bad stories to other ferrets about how humans eat
babies, run wild, kill other critters, and breed out of control - well, we
won't go into that.  You humans don't need any encouragement when it comes
to filling the world up with babies that you don't want and won't take care
of - not to mention killing each other off.  We just don't understand.
 
The point is that folks like us are the victims of too many false truths,
superstitions and old wive's tales.  There are still places where our human
companions can be arrested and us killed just for being together and trying
to live in peace.  Even where we live we have to have our business cut out
and have our scent glands removed.  Imagine how you would feel if you had to
live your lives with an empty space between your legs and nothing to use
deodorant on.  We don't think you would like it very much.  We aren't bitter
about this stuff - our lives are full and we have more fun than we can
stand.  We just get sad when we hear about uninformed peoples doing bad
things and hurtful things, passing stupid laws and telling lies about folks
like us.
 
The truth is that we are the cleanest, most intelligent and most dometicated
pet companions on the earth.  We don't chase cars, we don't bite mailmen, we
don't yowl outside your bedroom window all night, and we don't spread
disease to other folks.  Why are you so afraid of us?
 
Could it be that you are just too busy getting ahead in your political
careers that you don't have the time to listen to the folks who put you
where you are?  Are you so busy buying $3000.00 toilet seats that you can't
take the time to allocate some funds to help us get over and prevent a
disease that's hurting so many of us ferrets?  Are you too busy to care and
to listen?  Or are you just stupid and mean-hearted?
 
Us ferrets don't pose any threat to you.  Why do you hate us so much?  Could
it be that you are afraid to have fun?  Could it be that you don't know how
to love?  Think about it.
 
Sincerely,
 
Tater and Odie Schieman
(Ferrets and proud of it!)
 
(Well, that's what the guys wrote.  I think they done good.  Feel free to
forward this to anyone who needs to read the truth about our little guys.  -
Paw Paw)
 
http://members.gnn.com/emssandy/index.htm
[Posted in FML issue 1688]