Bear with me, ferrets are at least peripherally involved!  I live in
Fort Worth, Texas, and took up a new hobby a couple of months ago called
geocaching.  Basically I use a handheld GPS receiver to search for
coordinates of hidden "caches" of trinkets with a logbook.  The biggest
number of "players" of this game use a particular website to find cache
coordinates near them, download the coordinates to the GPS unit, read the
cache notes and logs from other finders, and set off to search.  From the
first cache my family found, we have been using a cloisonne type pin in
the shape of a ferret sitting up on it's haunches as a sort of "signature
piece"-- we leave one of these pins in every cache we find in addition
to whatever trade we may make with the cache.  It's been especially fun
because local cache hunters have really taken to the pins and they
generally get snatched up quickly and with enthusiasm.
 
Of course, in order to have finders, there must also be placers.  After one
of my pins was taken from a local cache, the finder told me he intended to
put it into a cache he was planning on placing.  That cache has now been
placed... in NORWAY!  So if you'd like a nice little enameled ferret pin,
you're in Norway, and you feel like a little adventure, visit
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=6114 to read about the
cache site and get the coordinates where you can find it!
 
BIG, you can remove the next line if it doesn't meet the "commercial"
sniff test.  [The remaining lines seem fine to me.  BIG]
 
To see pictures of similar pins in different colors than the one in Norway,
visit www.ebay.com and look for items auctioned by user ID SilverFert.  I'm
selling them on behalf of the local ferret club as a fund-raiser and bought
several for use as my geocaching calling card as well.
 
Debra in Fort Worth
[Posted in FML issue 3519]