I was in your position this past summer.  I wanted a ferret more than
anything else and couldn't find one.  I was considering a place that would
ship it to my local airport but I decided that I wasn't going to do that
because I wanted to pick it up, I saw an ad in the PennySaver for ferrets
for sale and I called and found out that they were located in Arizonaon the
Ca border.  I ended up driving out there anyway and picked up Maggie and an
entire cage w/supplies.  I was so happy a few months later I got another.
This is the best way to do it in my mind unless you can find a local person
that wants to get rid of theirs.  Oh yeah, I also won an auction for 2
Ferrets with supplies for $200 but the guy wussed out and didn't want to
ship them to Ca.
 
Maggie and Tyrone
[Posted in FML issue 2555]