This may sound really strange and perhaps a bit "woo-woo" but--for most
of the seven ferrets that we've been owned by, I've looked at them and
actually asked them, "What is your name?" and then waited for either a
thought to pop into my head, or some kind of a "sign" to inspire me.
If nothing showed up then, I would ask, "What shall I call you?" and
again, see if inspiration hits me.

Our first ferret seemed to think that her name was a musical note, so I
had to find out what to call her. I turned on the car radio and there
was a commercial for Shasta Cola, and I said, "Oh--are you 'Shssta.'
little one?" and it seemed to work.

The next ferret, a little dark sable baby, came home and looked at me
with this appealing, sad-sack 'flat ferret' pose and I immediately
"knew" this little guy was "Emmett Kelly."

'Monry' and 'Madison' were named for the dog my husband had as a child,
and the city where I grew up and where we met at university. 'Monty' is
short for Montgomery, Alabama. 'Madison' is usually a girl's name now,
but our 'Madison' was a boy. We knew which one had to have which name.
Monty was quite manly and hunky, and Madison was elegant and
intellectual, and they were both loves.

'Beauregard' was a cuddly little rescue who was just given to me as a
gift by a kind lady who saw me at the vet's. He was very sweet and
gentlemanly, and when I first asked 'Beau' what his name was, I didn't
get any thoughts in my mind except a feeling of shyness. I asked again,
and the tiniest embarrassed little whisper of 'Beauregard' came into my
mind. "But that's perfect!" I told him, and he looked happy.

'Zorro' and 'Mickey' were originally 'Bandit' and 'Justice.' Because he
was so dark, with such a lovely mask, and because he was so athletic he
could practically swoop through the air (at the shelter they told me to
"watch out for him, he can jump to the top of the washing machine!" and
he could!) -- obviously 'Zorro' was 'his' name, with 'George' then
serving as his "saint's name." He is also called "Zoso-bean" or "the
Zorillito.'

Little feisty cinnamon Mickey--truly a sweet girl who just happens to
hiss a lot and to grab on with her sharp little teeth -- was clearly a
red-headed Irish lass with a bit of a temper, but a darling really. Of
course, 'Mickey' is short for 'Michaela,' her "saint's name,' but she
is often just called simply "Princess" or "My Lady." Sometimes she is
called "Mickety-bean" or "the Mixer."

I have a mental list of names that I think would be great for
ferrets--names like as "Sherlock" and "Cadfael" and "Vivica" and
"Eliane"--but they've never "fit" any of our ferrets. Perhaps they'll
be perfect for one of yours?

Please no flames for having an overactive imagination--thanks! Love
your fuzzbeans, and . . .

"May all your ferret tales end 'happily ever after.'" Kate
(currently-owned by "George & Michaela," nicknamed "Zorro & Mickey"--a
dark-and-dashing big sable boy and a sweet-and-spunky tiny red-headed
girl)

[Posted in FML 6465]