Okay so I'm a little behind....but I still want to share my ferret names.
 
Hobie (aka Hobert, Burt & Hoglet) was my first encounter with a ferret.  We
met at the local Zoo where I was working as a volunteer.  Hobie was part of
a traveling zoo which went from school to school and my job was to clean
his cage and feed him every Saturday.  I was totally captivated with him
and decided within short order that he simply had to come home with me, so
I begged and pleaded and drove them crazy till they finally said "yes" just
to shut me up.  I can't say for sure where his name came from...it just
came to me as I took him (for the last time) from the stainless steel cage
where he had lived for the last two years.  Burt lived to be 11 years old
R.I.P.
 
Tootsie (who came with her name) was a tinnie tiny little sable who we
bought from a newspaper ad as a companion for Hobie.  Unfortunately she
only lived for 6 months, she had adrenal/insulinoma.  Tootsie and Hobie
both taught me that not all vets know how to treat ferrets.  For four
months our local vet had me convinced that Tootsie had an allergy and that
we just hadn't been successful in finding out what it was too.  By the
time I wised up and located a ferret-wise vet...it was too late.  R.I.P.
 
Next came Tippie (aka Princess & #$%@&).  Tippie was my first experience
with a non-stop totally hyperactive ferret and got her name because she
always seemed to be walking (I mean running..she never walked) on her tippy
toes.  Tippie, a Hagen ferret was bought because Hobie seemed depressed
after loosing Tootsie.  Hobie HATED Tippie.....enter Boots!
 
Boots (aka Booter Boy & Bootie) was another Hagen-pet store ferret
purchased as a cagemate for Hobie, because he wanted nothing to do with
Tippie, turned out to be a lap ferret who loves everybody.  A silver mitt,
Boots was named for the 4 white boots on his feet.  He is one the gentlest,
sweetest ferrets I've even known and loved both Hobie and Tippie.  I guess
Hobie must have decided that if Boots liked Tippie then she must be alright
because next thing I knew the three of them were sharing a cage.
 
Time marched on and one day Hobie passed on from old age, and that left
two.  About this time I got involved with a group of people who founded
the Alberta Ferret Society and became a foster mom for our very first
surrender....JAWS!!!
 
JAWS, since renamed to LittleUn (aka Sweetpea & Flip-flop) because of her
small size was rated as a # 9 on a scale of one to ten as far as viciousness
goes.  This precious little Champaign mitt had been thrown against a wall
and had suffered spinal damage as a result.  Any wonder she was terrified
of being picked up.  LittleUn gets her nickname, Flip-flop because of the
way she wardances.  Because of the damage to her spine she is not as mobile
as the others and so instead of bouncing and bopping when she wardances she
flips and flops like a dying fish.  The nickname Sweetpea comes from the
gentle loving nature that she now displays.
 
Now getting involved with rescuing ferrets seems to go hand in hand with
fostering followed very closely by adopting everything you foster so,
without further ado I bring you...
 
Knickers, formerly Nippy who is anything but, was named for the horsy
nickering sound she makes.  Not really a dook dook!  A 4 year old DEW she
was literally rescued from the jaws of death, or should I say the needle of
death, for she was sitting in a cage on death row at the SPCA.  Thankfully
they called us and one of my co-volunteers walked that long hallway and
pulled her back from the flames.  Knickers in her gratitude covered her
face with kisses while my co-volunteer froze in terror waiting for her to
live up to the .  She is my matron ferret with the roman nose.  A very
proper and ladylike ferret she only occasionally allows herself to relax
and break out into song and dance.
 
*Big sigh*....okay who's left?   Awww yes....
 
Chico, who came with the name, at some point between LittleUn and Knickers
is my chocolate sable lickey boy!  Aggressive with other ferrets to the
extreme, Chico is an only ferret who loves his Mom & Pop, Pounce and
raisins in that order.  Chico demands and gets all of our attention while
out and about and can frequently be found dragging me through the bushes
on our 3 1/2 acre property.
 
Juliette (aka Julie & "goddamitjulie") my pride and joy "Panda" ferret who
turned into a blaze three weeks after I adopted her.  She also came with
her name.  Julie is my..."you're trying my patience"....ferret who is
constantly up to no good and teaching the others how to do the same.  "Come
her guys let me show you how to get into the couch from the top".....Julie
know all about the phrase "Where they is a will there is a way"!
 
Last but not least...Wally be Good (aka Wally, Wally Bear & Boo Boo) Wally
got his name from a co-volunteer who convinced a pet store to turn him over
to the Society after he'd been abandoned there by his former owner.  Wally
is my gentle giant (even though he's only 3 pounds soaking wet).  He's like
Superman's alias Clark Kent...meek and mild and a real sweetheart.
 
And that's the end.
 
Barbara Gustafson
Alberta Ferret Society
[Posted in FML issue 2660]