Hi all--
 
When I got my first ferret, I had her for 1 day before seeking a book about
ferrets.  The only one I could find was the one by Chuck and Fox Morton...
well, I've come to learn that a lot of stuff in that book doesn't much hold
true for *my* ferrets (i.e. "grasp the ferret's foot firmly and proceed to
clip his nails"--ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!)
 
Anyway, one of the things in the book was that mice are instinctively
terrified of ferrets and will head for the nearsest exit upon encountering
"eau de ferret." Now this one I have always believed because I felt my
complete mouse-free existence proved it.  We once lived in Northern VA and
heated with a woodstove and though warned by our landlord that the mice
would move in and there'd be little we could do, never had mice.  Well, not
quite true.  Had one mouse living under the kitchen cabinet, but the ferret
got in there, and we never saw sign of the mouse again.
 
Last winter my parents (definitely non-ferret people) had mice in their
cabin.  In fact, my mother found a mouse dead in her BED surrounded by DCON,
and having shred the sheets, pillow, etc .  .  .  to make a cozy tomb for
himself.  Yuk.  This year I gave her blankets that the ferrets had slept
with for a week, and so far, no mice.  But her neighbors at the cabin are
having some problems with mice.  All conceeds to my theory that mice take
off completely if there's the smell of ferret around.
 
Sure.  Except for the diehard mouse that's currently living in my house
driving me crazy.  I find mouse pooh in the bathroom, under the sink, in my
turtle neck drawer (ick!) and a PILE of sunflower seed shells and mouse dooh
in the closet like you would't believe.  And even a pile of sunflower seeds
and dooh behind my computer.  (I had been wondering where that bag of
sunflower seeds got too--still haven't found the actual bag!) The first time
I found the shells, I stared at my ferrets wondering how in the world they
could know to open the shells to get at the nut.  Ha-ha.  I hadn't noticed
the mouse pooh that time.
 
And of course, now I'm wondering what's wrong with the dog, that she lets a
mouse EAT without having a fit.  This is a dog that will hear the sound of a
potato chip being chewed from a dead sleep and be immediately right there,
begging.  Also the same dog that sits outside the ferret cage in great
distress because the ferrets are eating their food and not sharing any with
her.
 
With 5 ferrets, I'd think at least ONE would still have some predator
instinct left.  So now I must conclude that, like the cartoon cat Garfield,
my ferrets and the mouse have struck some sort of deal.  I know the ferrets
end of it--they steal my bags of sunflower seeds off the table and leave
them on the floor for the mouse.
 
But what can a mouse do for a ferret?  What kind of bargaining power can
this little creature have?  (Well, after all those sunflower seeds, it's
probably not so little anymore.)  And why does this bother me?  Mouse pooh
grosses me out, yet I think nothing of picking up ferret pooh when the
litter box is ignored.
 
Any one have any ideas of what the mouse is doing for the ferrets?
 
--Sheri
[Posted in FML issue 2182]