First off I want to thank you all for helping me to learn to be a better
ferret keeper - when I first got Sprocket 2 years ago I knew next to nothing
(being from CA) except that I had seen one a few years earlier and wanted
one ever since..... the pet shop told me that they eat bananas and cat food,
that was about it for education on their part.  Fortunately I started
researching on the Internet a week or two before I got her.  Finding the FML
helps me to take better care of her all the time.  I (and she and Fathead)
appreciate everyone's wisdom.  They just got a sandbox (design I read here)
for indoor digging last week, for instance.
 
I thought I'd share last night's brief scare with you guys.  My roommates
and I had the weasels out for an hour or so then went for a walk, so one of
us put them back in their cage, not realizing that the bottom door was not
latched.  When we got back an hour or so later Fathead (who is furry again
for those of you who remember his unusual shed scare) was dancing with the
cat and stealing my art supplies and Sprocket was nowhere to be found.  We
leave a window open for the cats access, so we were pretty panicked
immediately - there are dogs next door not as ferret friendly as our own AND
we live in a FFZ.  We were searching her favorite spots she runs to when she
slips out of their room with no luck, so I grabbed a flashlight and headed
outside - or started to, but as soon as I opened the door she ran in all
wide eyed and poofytailed.  She had gone in our room, climbed the laundry
hamper, jumped to the window, gotten out (a 4 ft drop), made it around the
house past a shed and various obstacles, and up the back porch.  Needless to
say I'm proud of her for sticking close, and VERY relieved.  She even let me
cuddle for more than 30 sec, so I guess she was scared, too.
 
Without making this too much longer, I wanted to add to the mouse question
that tiny Sprocket has caught and killed 1 confirmed mouse (wild) and 1 more
possibly.  She hasn't eaten any once they're dead, though, that I've seen.
[Posted in FML issue 2325]