Jazzmine Miss-Boss, Her Story.
 
Jazzmine Miss-Boss, along with her original "gang", Zeus Mellowfellow and
Zipper-Goes-Faster, came from an owner who had brought them from one of
the Northeastern United States, who "dumped "the three of them with their
three-tier cage on his sister-in-law in this Northwestern Florida area
(just outside of Pensacola, Florida).  After hearing from her relative
that she could find another home for his ferrets, because she had a
rather active little three-year-old she wanted to give all her time and
attention to, she placed an advertisement in the local paper for three
ferrets with cage, make offer.
 
She said she didn't get any offers until we called and came to see them.
In the spring of 1999, Jazzmine and "Zeufy" (for short) were, at that
time, four years old, each, and Zipper-goes-faster was a little perpetual
"blur" of a blacksable at 2 years old.
 
Jazzmine Miss-Boss also was "terrorizing" the lady's little dachsund,
finding a way and means to scramble after the poor dog, only twice
Jazzy's size, and nip at it's retreating heels.
 
At this time, Jazzy was every inch a "Blaze-Badger" style of ferret in
her coat...she had a brilliant silvery coat with dainty white front feet
and a white face with a wide, jagged blaze running brightly from her
forehead down the back of her neck, and a single (distinctive!) ring of
dark fur on her light-silvery tail which she still has, today, even after
her ageing coat has paled-away almost all her former silvery
color...there's that ring on her tail!
 
After agreeing on a fee and bringing her and her "gang" to our house,
we quickly discovered what Jazzmine Miss-Boss's absolute favorite
pastime was...Bossing everyone and everything!  She taught our cats
to jump up high and stay clear of all territories Jazzmined.  She
never bit "down", but would give defining Jazzmine-Nip after which
she'd look you straight in the eye with her front feet spead like a
tough-little-old-lady-with-her-arms-akimbo in an "Oh, YEAH?" attitude.
And she would brook no other ferrets around "her" gang for the next two
years, until we introduced Silver Freckles and Zinc-A-Dinc-A-Zoo.  Maybe
it was because she was 6 years old and "past menopausal-age?" who knows!
But she accepted Silver Freckles and Zinc-a-Dinc-A-Zoo as part of her
"gang", and now, a year later, has allowed Zinc to become the
fighter-against-strange-ferrets for the gang, after we have adopted out
her old buddy, Silver Freckles wo a family with whom Silver fell in Love
with.  (we let the ferrets choose their own families, it's much better
than the other way around, for then the ferrets WANT to stay with their
chosen people).
 
In November of 1999, Wes was interviewed about the ferrets by an
Associated Press reporter who photographed him holding three ferrets,
(see your local Library archived newspapers ) and much of the information
given in this three-column article not only agreed with the HSUS
guidelines (for refraining from adopting pets during the holidays, and
why) but also the reporter did a telephone interview with Dr. Deborah
Kemmerer, and a still-leading ferret-veterinarian specialist for some of
the ferret health-issues.
 
This article was published in many newspapers, all across the United
States, along with the photograph.  We heard from folks who saw it from
California, Arizona, and other areas of the country, afterwards.
 
What wasn't mentioned was Jazzmine Miss-Boss's "famous" intimidating
technique having been practiced on this quiet-spoken reporter.
Just as soon as I let her and her gang out, she ran over to the
reporter's shoe and bit on his shoelaces, and looked up st him with her
"Oh,Yeah?!" look.
 
I joked at him that he'd better check his shoelaces before getting up,
that the ferrets might likely tie all his shoelaces together and then run
away with his shoes as soon as he fell out of them getting up.  And the
poor reporter looked at Jazzmine, again, more than half believeing that!
 
Well, Jazzmine Miss-Boss is older and slightly more mellow, these days;
and her badger-coat has all faded into a nearly uniform creamy
off-white... except for that distinctive ring near the end of her tail.
She doesn't go out of her way to nip the cats or untie and re-tie
shoelaces, any more, but she does still like to "defend" her gang and her
cage with a "this is MINE"-nip sometimes, and then snuggle down with the
rest of the gang in a multiple-ferret bundle of furs.
[Posted in FML issue 3994]