Dear Ferret Folks-
 
This morning I tried an experiment.  Both Switch the Kit and Hurricane
Lily LOVE raisins, but they disdain all other treats.  No Yogies.  No
Bonkers.  No little hunks of bananna or melon.  Just kibble and raisins.
 
I bough myself a treat yesterday.  A small container of deluxe, fresh
dates from California.  Yummy.  Sticky.  Crinkly brown on the outside,
like honey and brown sugar on the inside.  Sort of like enormous,
three-inch long raisins with a pit inside.  Hmmm...enormous raisins....
 
I stood over my kitchen counter and cut one up into several large hunks.
The ladies could see that I was up to something from their side of the
baby gate.  They strained to see what I was doing.  Imagine two ferrets
clinging to their side of the babygate like starfish, their heads weaving
and bobbing, trying to see what I was up to.
 
I gently set the hunks of date down on the floor next to the ladies, who
were literally stepping on top of one another in order to be the first to
see the new thing.  Both ladies sniffed delicately at the sticky little
brown scraps.  Then something came over Lily, I swear she went rigid like
a two-by-four!  Her tail puffed up like Olive Oyle's bun.  Boy-oy-oy-ing!
 
She grabbed a hunk in her teeth and quickly backed up like a cop car in
reverse in an episode of Miami Vice.  Rrrrr!  Zip!  She disappeared
but-end first into one of the aluminum dryer hose tubes.  I could hear
her toenails scritching as she backed up several feet into the tube.
 
Switch was left to puzzle over the remaining bit of sticky brown date on
the floor.  It was mildly intersting...but that was all.  She was still
sniffing at it with a little question mark in the thought balloon
floating over her head when Lily launched herself out ot the tube like a
rocket propelled grenade.  BOOF!
 
She flew several feet through the air, all four legs spread, mouth open
to show sticky brown fangs, and landed on Switch's back.  The two
grappled and rolled several times across the linoleum floor.  Switch,
a bit bigger than Lily, finally shook her attacker off.
 
Lily immediately pounced on the remaining scrap of date.  She tried her
voice her intimidating Hiss-of-Death, usually reserved for playing tug of
war with a towel, but it was somewhat less intimidating with a mouth full
of preserved fruit.
 
Lily shot back into the tube with her prize, leaving a ruffled and
indignant Switch standing there going "What the HELL was that about?!"
 
Lily was not seen again for some time.  The aluminum dryer hose tube
rocked gently while she munched.
 
Alexandra in Massachusetts.
 
[Moderator's note: It's amazing what some critters will do for a hunk of
a date.... especially those enormous dark-skinned ones from California.
Maybe it's time for you to answer some personal ads? -- there's clearly
a hidden message here!  BIG]
[Posted in FML issue 4251]