Fish(er) story: I had a call today from a woman who didn't know what to
do.  A ferret had followed her neighbor's dog out of the woods, then the
neighbors to their house, & they called her.  She'd never seen or handled a
ferret before & it seemed weak and ill, and she couldn't afford veterinary
care.  Our local vet gave her the phone number of the closest ferret
shelter (over an hour away) & also my number.
 
I told her I'd come over, & was already jumping ahead in my mind to, should
I take it?  Pay vet bills for her?  etc.  But when I looked at it, I said,
That's no ferret!  It was about the size of a 3-4 month old cat & looked
like a baby.  Black.  Long tail.  Very docile, and very weak.  I looked &
looked & said, I think you have a baby fisher.  I made a few calls til I
found a wildlife rehab person, and they agreed to take it.  A baby fisher
it was!  They gave me hell for handling it (we have rabies around here) but
I am *thrilled* to have touched a fisher.  Conjecture that someone found it
as a baby & raised it, then turned it loose or it wandered off, & couldn't
find enough to eat; fishers are not ordinarily an animal to be friendly to
humans.
 
Breeding: I've read some talk on the list recently about how breeders
should decide what traits to select for.  I have a suggestion.  You should
breed for house-break-ability.  Breed a race of ferrets that will poop in
litter boxes exclusively!  Who cares what color or size they are?  Clean
floors!
 
Primitive air conditioning: Boy, the heat here has been wicked.  I took
(someone's) advice & put a frozen soda bottle on the floor with a cloth
over it; one of the ferrets sat right on that cloth, leaning against the
bottle.  Also kept a wrung-out moistened towel hanging over a fan on low. &
dipped them in the sink when they really seemed hot.  They didn't like it,
but they won't swim, and it cooled them off short-term.
 
Philosophy: Bob C, I appreciate your wisdom about tolerance.  Every
community needs its eccentrics... And one of the lessons I seem to need
to learn over & over is not to take the hook.
 
Hope you are all well & dooking.  Regards
--sharin
[Posted in FML issue 2726]