Hi All,
 
Just when a human begins to feel comfortable that he/she is in control, the
ferrets just have to show us that we really aren't, that they have been
letting us look at the world through the proverbial rose colored glasses.
Well, my babies showed me last night just how much control I really have.
This might prove to be helpful to other ferret owned humans out there.  This
is my story:
 
My younger group of fur-kids were in the midst of their out-time.  They were
engaged in the usual jumping, chuckling, wrestling, etc, etc, etc, that
ferrets tend to do when feeling especially frisky.  My living room, dining
room, and kitchen area is one really large room with a bar/kitchen
sink/counter being the room divider.  From my easy chair, I can look across
to the kitchen and can see the kitchen stove.  I was listening to Scott as
he was talking on the phone, when something strange caught my attention.  I
glanced over to the kitchen and observed a fuzzy black tail and little butt
go into the broiler portion of the stove.  I could not believe it.  I
quickly went over to the stove and pulled the drawer further out and all
seven of the little darlings were in there.  Somehow, they had managed to
push the drawer open and gained entry.  I shudder to think what might have
happened had my oven been one of the older ones that does not have an
electronic ignitor and had a pilot light that stays lit all of the time.
After having removed all the youngsters from the broiler, I observed Rusty
and Harley as they again approached the stove.  Harley is extremely
intelligent, Rusty is extremely innovative, together they are trouble.  As I
watched these two, I arrived at the conclusion that they had planned the
whole thing.  They worked together in the attempt to gain entry again.  I am
going to have to come up some kind of deterrent to keep this from happening
again.  Ferrets, you gotta love 'em.
 
On a different note, have you ever noticed how easily the fur-kids can
shrink when they want to get into something and the space is quite small?
Even the largest, fluffiest hob/gib can fit into a really tiny space.  All
the doors in my house have a gap underneath them.  ( I guess it is for
circulation or something.) Well, the babies can scoot right under the doors.
We solved this problem by going to one of the local glass shops and having
some plexiglass cut to the size of the bottom of the door.  We, then,
attached the plexiglass to the door with screws.  Problem solved.
 
Prayers to all the  babies who aren't feeling well, and condolences to
those who have lost a precious little one.
 
Margaret and her babies: Princess, Gismo, Harley (Hey, Rusty, if you push on
this door thing, I think we can get back in there), Scooter, Coco, Merlin,
Rusty (Yeah, I'll push while you pull and we will get back in there), Fancy
and Daisy
        and Scott (who puts up with all of us)
[Posted in FML issue 1815]