Hi Cathy;
 
As it's right now in the 30's, this is nice to think about:) (In the
interest of sharing knowledge, I cc'd the FML as other people doubtless have
to move to warmer areas also)..
 
On moving to the heat area, I consider the eventuality, not possibility, of
air conditioner failure something to plan for like fire.  Especially after
Bunny was in 108 degree heat (see Bunny's ordeals on the web page if you
haven't)... The vet did not expect to see her alive the next day, nor 3 days
later, now months ago.
 
I waited 11 months to find this house so I could park my motor home in the
back as my escape hatch.  It has not only it's own a/c, but a 7kw generator
drawing from a 78 gallon gas tank.  We HAVE had power failures of over 4
hours, I think Yuma is worse, & they usually happen at the hottest days, (of
course, overload is a cause of failure)... Now that means it cannot be left
totally off, as it would take 4-5 hours to cool down from 140+ degrees that
it would be inside an enclosed space left in the sun, just like a car.  As
it happened this last summer, Bunny would only eat often enough to prevent
seizures if not in a cage..(!) so she had the world's most expensive ferret
cage, a 37' motor home, with central a/c, running all summer long.  Now that
the floor was too cold, she's inside so it's not being heated, but the
furnace could bring it up to temp.  in 1/2 hour easy.  Probably less, since
I have 7 electric heaters collected from a few furnace failures when I was
in Colo., but that's another story:)
 
When traveling even in an a/c'd car, what if the car dies, or it's a/c does?
Most people freeze water bottles & carry as a spare, wrapped in a sock to
collect the condensation.  Also, have water & a spray bottle to wet them
down.  If they pant because of the heat, they could die in 10 minutes.
Ferrets have died in 15 minutes left in a car on an "only" 80 degree day.
The sun out here is a killer, literally.  This year a forest ranger died on
a hike when she got disoriented & separated from her group.  These are the
people that rescue lost hikers!
 
Join forces with other ferret people so you can seek refuge during power
failures as often it's a pretty small area when a transformer burns out or
is hit by a car.  A good reason to have them caged when not supervised was a
recent house fire & they got the ferts out quickly by not having to search
for them.  Floods are historically the opposite, they can swim to safety as
hurricane Andrew showed, but drown in a cage that's covered with water.  A
good reason to not have them on the floor, except for a 5' high cage or so.
 
I'm an old explorer scout and learned to "be prepared", and as corny as it
sounds, it can and does save lives:)
 
So have a good move, and as I used to tell my kids, play safe, have fun:)
 
Merry Christmas & a healthy New Year!
 
 Gary & the gang of fur
Timmy's web site=<http://www.concentric.net/~Gferret/>; He's the ferret
totally healed from "terminal lymphoma" without drugs.:)
AOL instant messenger name= garyferret :)/ ICQ#4461104
[Posted in FML issue 2165]