It's been crazy around our place these past few weeks, and that's really
saying something when you have a ferret shelter in your house.  I guess it's
just that some days are crazier than others.
 
Yesterday we received a call from an auto dealership in Nashua, NH.  One of
the people there called to say that they rescued a baby ferret from their
cats.  He put it in a Folgers coffee can and brought it to work where a
woman worked who used to own ferrets.  She called us, saying that the baby
ferret had an injured eye and could we come pick it up.
 
We were announced at the dealership with a loud shout across the showroom;
"The ferret people are here." That got a lot of attention.  People looked at
us like they were expecting to see someone covered in fur, with a long nose,
and tail.  Anyway we were presented with the coffee can from which emanated
scratching and thumping sounds.  My wife peeked inside.  "It's not a ferret.
It's an ermine." was her pronouncement.  Since this was her second ermine
rescue, I believed her.
 
For those of you who haven't seen an ermine, they are very small; looking a
lot like a very long mouse covered in very white fur.  They have a long tail
with a black tip.  Their eyes are large; maybe even bigger than a ferrets.
In that tiny head, the eyes look quite large.  If you think your ferret is
fast, you should see an ermine move.  Now *that's* fast!
 
Anyway, one of the ermine's eyes was missing.  We wanted to get it treatment
as quickly as possible.  We called Dr. Dutton, who normally closes early on
Wednesday afternoon.  His answering service put our call right through,
though (they know us very well by now).  Dr. Dutton gave us the name of the
wildlife rehab. group and said that he'd meet us and the rehab. people at
his office as soon as we contacted them.
 
The rehab. people were not at home when we called.  We couldn't keep it in
the coffee can.  It was too small to be deterred by the openings in the
ferret cages.  Even the openings in the door of the pet carrier were too
large.  We finally borrowed a 10 gallon aquarium (don't say anything - it
was the aquarium or the coffee can at this point) and put in an old towel.
 
By now we figured that the ermine was probably getting quite hungry.  What
do you feed a wild ermine?  We tried ferret food with the expected results.
Just like a ferret, the ermine turned up its nose at this new "stuff",
although it did drink plenty of water.  We emailed Troy Lynn and Bob C. for
help.  They both responded with suggestions (thanks Troy Lynn and Bob).  We
thawed some stir fry chicken pieces in the microwave, getting them just a
little warm.  When we put the chicken in the aquarium, the ermine rushed out
from under the towel and attacked the chicken pieces.  It must have eaten
nearly its own weight in chicken, then leaving part of the last piece, went
back under the towel to sleep.
 
The rehab. person, Mary, called.  We called Dr. Dutton and arranged to meet
them all at his office at 6 PM.
 
Dr. Dutton checked over "Folger" (named him after the coffee can) and
pronounced him in reasonably good health considering the loss of an eye.
There was no sign of infection.  Mary would take Folger, give him
antibiotics and care until his eye socket grew closed in about 8 weeks; then
release him (yes, it was a "him".) Mary would set up a pen with large flat
rocks arranged so that Folger could hide in them; put dirt and pine needles
on the floor so that he could arrange his own bedding.  Folger would pick a
corner as his latrine, she'd clean that corner only (sound familiar?) and
leave the rest alone.  Folger would be fed baby mice and day old chickens so
as to keep him used to foods that he could get in the wild, so as to make
his transition back to the wild easier.
 
Interesting evening.  Mary told us about wild living weasels; how they took
on prey many times their own size; how they were fast and strong; that given
a chance they would kill several chickens, even rabbits many times their
size.  I can see where CA Fish and Game got their stories of blood thirsty
"ferrets" - right genus, wrong species.  It's a wonder that CAF&G doesn't
have stories of house cats killing elephants and dog packs wandering the
tundra.
 
     Dick B.
[Posted in FML issue 1885]