Dodger surfed out a FOURTH-story window on a 30" square window screen
Wednesday night.
 
Injuries: none.  NOTHING!  ...So that's the short version.  Here's the whole
story:
 
Nic and I had been relaxing in the livingroom.  Curtis had dentally
attatched himself to Nic's feet, which caused Nic to complain that he hadn't
seen Dodge for a while.  (Dodge is a big suck and *never* bites.)
 
I thought about this, and realized I hadn't seen him for a bit either.  Odd.
We both got up to check out the apartment.
 
The heat had prompted us to open a few windows.  (Yes, we live in Canada...
but our 150-year-old building has 2' thick limestone walls and steam rads
that cannot be controlled, together creating a rather equatorial effect
indoors.) In the bedroom we discovered a gaping, screenless window.
 
I grabbed a flashlight and we both hurriedly changed out of our shorts (I'm
not kidding...I *mean* tropical apartment).  We ran down the stairs and out
into the alleyway, speechless.
 
I had braced myself to find a dead or severely injured ferret lying below
the window.  Instead, only the window screen lay there.  I figured Dodge
had had just enough energy to crawl off and die somewhere.  We started
searching.
 
A delivery van for the Oriental Market was in the alley, so Nic went to ask
in the store.  First big surprise:  Dodge had been sighted in the alleyway
about half an hour ago, having a party, bouncing in and out of the cardboard
boxes that littered the alley.  Apparently he was not hurt, or at least not
badly hurt.
 
Over the next half hour, we traced Dodge's tracks in the snow.  In answer to
the question, "What does a city alleyferret do in his spare time?":
 
-Discovers *two* abandoned, snowy sofas, and gives them a full investigation.
-Destroys a polyfill cushion form;  wardances.
-Climbs a bit of the fire escape.
-Discovers a shipping box with remnants of green peppers (!) in it;  dines.
-Fufills his urge to "go" in a sodden roll of carpet.
-Checks out the local bar patio.
-Rips open several bags of garbage and dances in the debris.
-Checks our Quebec Street;  decides it's too clean;  returns to alley.
 
Activity discovered later:
 
-Checks out Macdonell street; crosses to other side of four-lane plus
 parking downtown street.
-Cruises Macdonell, crosses Wyndham (four lanes), follows Carden Street.
-Gets picked up by concerned humans on Carden Street near VIA station.
 
Dodge returned home about an hour after his initial escape after we posted
$10 bail at the local Humane Society.
 
I still can't believe he's okay!  (He's going for a checkup today.) Between
the fall, the street crossing, and his similarity to a large garbage-hungry
rat, I have no idea how he didn't get flattened.  He was in high spirits
when we picked him up, and *very* excited when we entered our building
again.
 
Everybody decided that he stunk: Sid the cat buried his nose in Dodge's fur
in an attempt to figure out what was wrong with him; Curtis diligently
cleaned out Dodge's ears.  Everybody was glad to have him back.  Dodge had a
wrestling match with Curtis, and then settled down on the couch with Nic for
a snooze after all the excitement.
 
In the meantime, it looks like Nic and I will be boiling in our own juices
until be sort the screen issue out  :-(  ...But we still have Dodge, and
*AM* I thankful!!!
 
Lynn.
[Posted in FML issue 1508]
[Posted in FML issue 1508]