Felix, Mikey and I are fugitives in Califbanaweaselornia.  Good news: San
Francisco is a *very* ferret-friendly town...in the 2.5 years I was there, I
took Felix all over on busses, to Golden Gate park and other spots, and had
over 15 encounters with cops, none of which gave me any hassles.  The only
*good* part about the ban is how severely weirded out people get when I take
'em out.
 
Case in point: I was at GG park a while back, and as usual, little 2lbs
albino Felix goes happily bouncing up to a large dog - a six-month-old
German Sheperd "pup".  And as usual, the dog couldn't figure it all out, and
backed off - at first.  Within a few seconds he realized Felix was being
*playfull*, and despite never having seen a skinnykitty, they start
"romping" together, having a mutual blast.  The main game seemed to be for
the dog to dodge Felix - it was great.
 
After mebbe 1/2 hour, a huge crowd of at least 75 had gathered, stunned at
this.  Felix of course finally collaped, his teeny legs just gave out and he
made like a carpet.  The dog came over, nudged him with his nose while
whimpering, clearly concerned; Felix looks up at him, drops his head back
down.  So as I'm walking over, the dog's owner calls him, says something
about "time to go home anyways".
 
The dog looked at Felix, looked at his master, then reached down and scooped
Felix up gently in his jaws and carried him in the direction of home, tail
flapping wildly.  Felix didn't even *mind*!  "Oh, I'm getting carried around
by a dog; whatever...zzzzz".  "No, dog, leggo the weasel, you can't take him
home with you..."
 
Case two: Down by Fisherman's Wharf, there's these cheesy little
tourist-trap shops.  One of 'em had this table with raised edges set up,
with a couple of dozen stuffed battery-powered stuffed animals, moving
around.  All about Felix's size.  So I go, "Here, Felix, check out these
fake playmates" and put him in with the rest.
 
Along come this yuppie couple, and the guy looks over, says, "Honey, this
one looks cute!".  One guess as to which one he grabbed.  So Felix just
*looks* at the dude, who's looking at his SO, who shrieks, so he looks back
and gets in a short (I mean *really* short) staring contest with Felix, who
wins as he makes a statement to the effect of "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!".
 
Case three: I'm sitting in the laundrymat down the street, watching my duds
roll around, with Felix asleep on my lap.  This five year old walks over and
says, "Is that a WEASEL?".  I reply, yep, sure is.  So from across the room
I hear him go back to his maleparent, and say, "Daddy, there's a WEASEL over
there!".  "No, son, there's no weasel in the laundrymat"..."but daddy
there's a WEASEL over there!"..."No, there's no weasel, now quiet down and
lemme fold these socks!".
 
So the kid comes back, long in the face, saying "He didn't beweeve me!".
 
What else could I do?  I drape Felix over his shoulder, a few seconds
later, I hear "Daddy, look, a WEASEL"..."AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH
WHATTHEF**K IS THAT?!"..."It's a WEASEL!"...etc.
[Posted in FML issue 1526]