Or is that Who's on First.
 
Why do I have ferrets.....cause I always wanted my very own circus clowns.
 
My first ferret sighting was about 15 years ago.  I had heard a commercial
on the radio about volunteering at the Zoo and so the next day off I went
to ferret out the details.
 
I have so many good memories of those 3 years as a volunteer.  We got to
work in the nursery every Saturday.  Bottle feeding baby bears, skunks,
fox, deer, moose, raccoons, even a cougar for a while.  Feeding baby owls,
hawks and robins.  Playing with porcupines and beavers.  We also had the
task of cleaning and feeding all the residents in the Winter barns, lots of
shoveling and scrubbing believe me!  That is where I met my first ferret,
they had several there, but one in particular caught my eye.
 
He didn't have a name, but every weekend there he would be, peaking through
the bars, with the most intelligent look in his eyes.  I knew less than
nothing about ferrets but he looked so cute and friendly that I didn't even
hesitate to stick my hand in his cage.  He wasn't one of the animals that
they warned us to be careful around and it never even dawned on me that he
might bite.  And he didn't, unlike the woodchuck who got me good!
 
I later learned that they used him in a traveling zoo which went to
schools.  I secretly named him Hobie and always made sure to spent extra
time with him.  Eventually I learned that people kept ferrets as pets and
so began my campaign to convince the zoo to let me take him home.  It took
a quite a while but I finally succeeded.
 
I clearly remember the Saturday I arrived to bring him home.  I ran into
the barns with my carrier to collect Hobie and.....wait a minute.....where
is he?  He was gone, the cage was empty, no straw (yes straw), no food bowl
nothing!  I raced to find Ken (the head zookeeper).  "Where is my Hobie" I
cried!  He looked at me blankly.  "My ferret" I said, "I'm here to take him
home".  Together we went to hunt him down.  Once outside we could see the
large flat-deck truck parked in the loading area.  It was surrounded with
cages which were being loaded on the truck headed for the auction.  And
that is where he was!  Someone has mixed up and put him on the list by
accident.  At the time, the zoo also had a female ferret who had been
abandoned in the prairie dog pen.  She was a beauty but quite a biter.
None of us were allowed to handle her.  It was she who was supposed to go
to the auction.  Anyway I saved my Hobie and whisked him away and that was
the beginning of the end for me.  I was totally hooked and completely in
love with this energetic little sable boy.  I do still remember with
sadness the little girl who went to auction though.  If I'd only known
then, all that I know today about ferrets I wouldn't have hesitated to
take her home too.  I never did hear what happened to her.
 
Barb Gustafson
Alberta Ferret Society
President
[Posted in FML issue 2936]