well folks, I've been officially moved back into my parents for one week,
and things seem to be going ok.  The ferrets adjusted fine, as I expected.
They've visited before and are pretty used to be moved around and going for
road trips.  The cats were freaked, but they have been pretty good and have
made themselves right at home.  TOO at home, actually.  Boo has chased my
mom's cats twice and her two cats are really freaked out and have taken to
living in the basement.  Ah well, they'll adjust eventually.  No blood has
been shed, just a few hisses and a little fur flying. :)  We're keeping the
ferrets upstairs.  Their cage is at the end of the hallway, and I modified
a baby gate so they can't get over it, and they run around up here when
they're out.  They've got three good sized bedrooms, a hallway, and a
bathroom to explore, and they'll have to be happy with that until we move
because I can't ferret proof the rest of the house.  Problem is, they know
there IS a rest of the house, and are trying to rip down the thick vinyl I
put over the gate.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they breach
it and I have to come up with a new solution, but it's working for now. :)
My parents think they are starting to smell bad, so it's bathtime today.
This should be fun.  :) But they also think the ferrets are quite cute, and
my dad stops at the cage and talks to them all the time whenever he walks
past, and my mom loves to play with them.  She was upset last night when
she went to bed though, because they've taken to tunneling under the covers
on her bed (they're not used to seeing a bed made, OK?  hehe), and when she
went to bed and pulled the covers over her, it smelled like ferrets. :)
 
As far as dancing and singing with your ferrets goes, I think it's a
prerequisite to ferret ownership.  I do it with mine all the time, except I
sort of make up words to whatever song happens to be on the radio or in my
head at the time.  This also works situationally, as certain things they do
will remind me of song snippets, and I modify them and sing and dance my
ferrets around.  For example, last night they were all crawling inside a
box on the floor (the byproducts of moving, lots of boxes!), and I started
swinging the box around and singing "weasels, weasels in a box", instead of
"solid, solid as a rock".  I don't even know the rest of that song, or for
that matter most of the song snippets I sing at them, but they don't seem
to mind. :)  I've sung to them about having fleas, I've sung to them about
having the greenies (you say you've got the runs baby: modified REO
Speedwagon), I've sung to them about pooping in corners and hiding in the
couch. :)  Is there something wrong with me?  Probably, but that's why I
love this list, because I know there are several thousand people out there
with the same disease.  :)
 
Kristi (Kitchen Consultant with The Pampered Chef) and the Mad Menagerie:
        Mayonnaise, Clover, Luna, and Loki (Mustelid Mob of Mayhem)
        Boo (the cat) and Casey (the kitten)
(see the crew at:  http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Park/4093 )
 
Reach me by ICQ. My ICQ# is 194656 OR
by yucky AOL: My IM name is EmaniaE
 
ferrets are like potato chips...you can't have just one!
[Posted in FML issue 2579]