I was so happy to see that Millie the ferret was returned home safe and
sound.  I know how relieved you must be.  It is so frightening when one goes
missing, out there in the wide world.
 
Our Pearl ferret gave me a huge scare last month.  We were staying in a big
rambling old hotel in Pa., with restaurant, lounge and huge lobby, on the
ground floor, quite a ways down from the lobby.  The night we checked in, I
went over the room carefully, as I always do, to make sure there were no
holes or other ferret hazards in the room, then I let Shamus and Pearl out
of their travel cage.  We went to the lounge for a drink, then I came back
to unpack, while Tim stayed in the lounge talking with friends.  Shamus was
there to greet me, but no Pearl.  She was gone.  I found a hole under the
radiator that I had missed on my earlier inspection, and I knew she had gone
into the floor.  ohmygod.  Just at the moment I was beginning to understand
the horrible implications of her disappearing under this huge place, Tim
walked in with guess who in his arms.  Here's what happened.  As he was
sitting in the lounge, this big black lab ran in, with Pearlie chasing it.
The poor barmaid screamed and jumped up on the bar.  (Wish I had seen
that!!!) Tim scooped the ferret up, much to the poor dog's relief, as well
as to the amusement of those gathered in the lounge!!  Of course he had no
idea how she came to be there!  Apparently Pearl had surfaced in the lobby,
where she caught sight of the dog, and took off after it.  She hates dogs.
To me, it was nothing short of miraculous that she wasn't lost to us; the
ferret protection gods worked overtime on THAT one.  Both Shamus and Pearl
have escaped more than I care to think about, and always the f.g. have
smiled on us.  We moved to a "secure" house in January, where all the doors
close tight and there are no holes in walls, and we feel much safer now.
 
By the way, for those who have not tried it with their younger ferrets, we
found that training Shamus when he was a baby to come to the sound of a
squeak toy, saved his furry butt.  We gave him a treat whenever we would
squeak the toy.  I think he would have been lost for good long ago, if it
wasn't for that toy.  Pearl however, being an adult when we got her, doesn't
respond to it, unfortunately.
 
Again, congratulations on Millie's homecoming!
 
Shamus the Bad, Pearlie-girl, as well as their vassals Denise & Tim
[Posted in FML issue 1858]