Just want to mention my ferret-sitter, who has never even had animals
before.  My friend and I had a lot of trouble finding a sitter for waterloo
that would take 8 ferrets, and finally I decided to ask the husband of a
friend.  They are one of the nicest people I know, and very responsible, so
I know I could trust them.  I also know they like the ferrets (they came to
my place late one night and played so long with my kids I thought I would
have to kick them out!) I gave them books and magazines on ferrets, and
type out 3 pages of instruction, left medical info and vet directions, made
arrangements with my vet for emergencies, and left for scotland.
 
I almost felt bad coming back and taking away their sitter.  When I called
him, he would tell me about all these things he's doing: he invented 2 new
games to play with them; he rearranged the furniture in my room so they get
excited; he took one of them every now and then on an excursion to the rest
of the apartment.  And I got all these stories about how cute my kids have
been and stuff.
 
2 of mine bite a bit, and 3 of them are not litter trained, so he had his
work cut out for him.  He did get bitten pretty deep once, but neither he
nor his wife mind very much.  We took them out to dinner twice and got him
a life-size ferret model as a thank-you.  We hid the model among blankets
with my kids and he look so stunned when we showed it to him, he thought we
got him a real one!  He's very happy with his present but admitted that
he's a little disappointed it wasn't real.  I hope they become ferret
owners someday when they are ready.
 
// ***********************************************
// Selina, Birch, Dief, Sprite, Storm, Sand & Bear
// http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/~ssiu
[Posted in FML issue 2864]