Hi all,
 
The short: Potpie got outside, we found her quickly, she's happy and fine.
 
The long: I played host for a ferret-friendly guest this weekend.  I trusted
this person some months ago to watch Potpie for a week at my house while I
was gone; he's a good friend.  Anyway, he left the front door unlocked, and
it swung ajar, and Potpie snuck out under the front screen.  Some
unspecified amount of time later (it was morning), he knocks on my door to
wake me up, and I find out that he had let the ferrets out before taking a
shower and she'd snuck out some time during the span of time he wasn't
watching her.
 
I put on shoes and a jacket, grabbed a squeaky toy, and went outside.
Since i live on a major intersection, the first thing I did was look at the
road and the sidewalks carefully, but I kinda knew she wasn't there - I was
actually extremely calm, considering this was *Potpie*.  Certain of you
listmembers understand!  Anyway, my guest and I split up and went around
either side of the house, and as we got around to the back, my guest
spotted Potpie sitting underneath my car in the driveway in back.  I knelt
down, squeaked the toy, and she ran right over.  She was wet, muddy,
shaking, and when we got back inside, very skitterish.
 
Several points: It was cold and rainy, and Potpie *loathes* getting her feet
wet.  Whenever Potpie gets outside (usually on leash or under close
supervision), she sticks close to the house, and never ventures more than a
few feet away from it.  The only dry areas by the house were under the car
and under the back porch.  For whatever reason, i knew we'd find her back
there, and we did.  Also, knowing Potpie, it either took her 15 seconds or
15 minutes to get there, but once she got there, she wasn't going anywhere.
 
As a side note, this guest is an extremely trusted, very very good friend of
mine who is extremely careful and considerate and who was very distraught by
the entire event.  I have always trusted my ferrets with him and vice versa,
and continue to do so, but accidents obviously can and do happen.
 
Melissa and the once-again jailbird
[Posted in FML issue 2290]