>There was a TV programme on BBC1 on Sat about pets, they had some
>ferrets opening a fridge door, unaided, and removing the contents....
 
Many years ago when we had few enough ferrets to allow them to free roam
all of the time, my wife woke me in the middle of the night.  "Dick, wake
up, I hear something downstairs!"
 
"Mumph," was the most intelligent answer I could come up with on the spur
of the moment.  "I don't hear anything.  Must be the house settling." - I
was getting better with excuses.  Then came a loud "crash," followed by
"squeak, squeak, squeak."
 
With that, I was wide awake and out of the bed before I even thought
about it.  I crept down the stairs.  The sound was definitely louder and
coming from the kitchen.  "Squeak, squeak, thud, thump, squeak." "Too
loud for a burglar," I thought.
 
I rounded the corner, flipped the light switch, took one more step and
ended up flat on my back on the tiled kitchen floor, with a very loud
"thump" of my own and not to mention "OFFFF!"
 
From my new viewpoint on the floor, I could see the lazy susan cabinet
in the corner going round and round, propelled by one ferret, while
another riding the shelf was busily emptying the cabinet of odds and ends
by shoving them out on the floor every time the opening led into the
kitchen.  Toaster - "clang." Box of pasta - "thump." All this while the
lazy susan went "squeak, squeak, squeak."
 
Looking around some more, I discovered just WHY I was flat on my back on
the kitchen floor.  Someone (I wonder who?) had gotten the refrigerator
open and dumped a bottle of salad dressing out on the floor, along with
a few eggs, one dozen ears of corn, and other odds and ends.  Ever try
walking on salad dressing on tile?  Ice has tremendous traction by
comparison.
 
Ferrets are very clever critters.
 
Dick B.
[Posted in FML issue 4504]