Dr. Williams,
 
        Add my ferret to the list of plastic bag eaters.  I keep her cage in the
closet because I share a condo with my brother and am limited on room in
my bedroom.  I keep her cage out of the way and out of the reach of his
two cats.  I'm leaving in a few months, so I see no reason to go through
the pain of introducing them.  When I do let her see them, she runs over
to them, they run away and she makes chase.  This is difficult to control
with a leash.  Yes, I use a leash inside for two reasons: 1. To get her
used to it.  2. To stop her from getting somewhere she shouldn't be.
Again, since I'm leaving the condo in a few months, I saw no reason to
ferret proof the condo.  I will in my apartment.  I plan on getting a two
bedroom, so guess who gets her own room?
 
        Anyway, half of my rather large closet (it takes up most of one wall in
my bedroom) is her cage and my comics boxes (I'm a collector), the other
half is closet organized.  The only place to hang long articles of
clothing is on the end near her cage.  My fiances black velvet evening
gown was hanging there.  Well let's just say that the long plastic bag
covering it can now only cover a suit jacket.  Somehow, even though I
tried my bets to get it out of her reach, she gets a hold of it and chews
on it.  Chewing is fine, but once I saw a funny colored stool in her
litter pan.  After closer inspection (and trying to figure out what she
got into) I deduced that she had indeed swallowed a piece of the bag.
Lucily it compacted properly enough to make its way through her digestive
tract.  I have since moved the bag and am watching for signs of blockage.
 
        BTW, were Nibbles a male, I'd have the perfect name for her. . .Rocky.
As in, Rocky the Flying Squirrel.  Nibbles made a daredevil leap for one
of my sweaters yesterday.  I was sorting my laundry and pulled out a
sweater.  She went flying off the bed, legs spread wide and missed.  She
hit the ground running though, silly little girl.
 
Jim and Nibbles
[Posted in FML issue 1105]