Hello again,
 
I have read and listen to people who say how their ferrets love water and
will jump in the shower with them.  I have owned 4 and non of them will do
that.  I have one especially(Max), who is just as afraid of water as a cat.
He immediately tries getting away from me when I hold him over the tub.
I try to make things a little easier by having the water ready before
bringing them up to the tub.  Madelyn, doesn't like baths either, but she
is very patient with me while she gets cleaned.  Anyway, I was reading
another article, I dont remember if it was Ferret Magazine or Modern
Ferret, but they were talking about what people in hot climates could do
to cool off their pet ferret during the warmer seasons.
 
One Idea she gave was to place a baking dish of water down for them to play
in to help cool them off.  Well, I have at times forgotten to put up the
cats food and water dish and my ferrets would go crazy in the water bowl.
Although I don't live in a warm climate(Seattle), I decided that since they
will play in very shallow water I would make it so they could.  I placed a
large blanket on the floor and took a cake pan and filled it half way with
water and placed it in the middle.  I let my ferrets out to play and really
didn't pay attention to what they were doing as I was busy playing video
games on my PC.  I could hear them splashing around in the dish, or so I
thought.  At one point in the game when I had a chance to look over my
shoulder to watch them play, I was absolutely shocked at what I saw.  Now
keep in mind that the cake pan was a normal 9 x 13 pan filled half way up
with water, it was GONE!  It wasn't hard finding it as there was a trail of
water leading me right to where they put it, or tried to.  We have spare
washer and dryer on this side of the basement and that where they take all
their treats and toys, they were trying to get the pan down the very narrow
passage between the two to hide it.
 
I stopped playing my game and cleaned up the mess and put the pan back on
the blanket once more, this time I sat back in my chair and watched
carefully.  Max came over and grabbed the pan in his mouth and this time
dragged it underneath the futon, leaving another trail of water to clean up.
 
This time I placed the pan back on the blanket and sat on the futon
thinking that if I'm actively watching, they will play instead of hiding
it, nope Max went for it again.  In the end I had to take the play thing
away and clean up a watery mess.
 
What I dont understand is why Max is afraid of the tub, but will play in a
cats bowl or pan.  The water in the tub, on the shallow end, doesn't rise
above his legs.
 
Hope everybody has a good week.
 
Ben, _Madelyn & Max  A New Meaning for Rainbow Bridge_
 
A Totally "Gay" Ferret Lover
[Posted in FML issue 2740]