If you know of anyone in the Amsterdam area (the Netherlands, Europe) that
is presently looking for a good home please contact me.
 
I live in a condo (appartment, flat, what you call it) with a small balcony
facing south and I guarantee all the love and care they may ever need.  I
was raised with pets (cats, dog, turtles, chicken, fish, something in the
reptile department that I forgot the name of, my hamster of course and yes,
a ferret, though that officially belonged to the playground).
 
Please spread my desperate call to anyone you know around Amsterdam.  I'll
take two!  M/M, M/F or F/F is irrelevant.  I'd prefer whites or sandy but
eventually any colour will do, though albino's are somewhat at the bottom of
my list.
 
OK, it might need some explaining why somebody in the midst of the
off-season asks for your help.  It's a bit of a story.  One doesn't take
pets just like that, of course and ever since moving here I have given it a
lot of thought.  Then these blackbirds decided to build a nest on my balcony
(see above) and starting producing one nest after the other.  And allowed me
to have a peek ever so often and watch their offspring grow up and take off
and assist in chasing cats and crows and what not.  Apparantly, they thought
the place was ideal for nesting, since they build four and raised a grand
total of 16 young in one season.
 
Then silence set in. So did the frost. I covered the nest with plastic foil
to keep it from freezing and prepared for the long long wait for sunshine
and the mating season......
 
With Christmas over and at the start of the New Year, I suddenly realised
that I was denying myself the company of acutely cute pets on the off chance
of Mr. and Mrs. Blackbird returning to have another go at it for about three
months in total.  I'm sure the Blackbirds can find another balcony for their
family, I did my part for ornitholophily and I feel that I now deserve a
break myself.
 
But what do you know?  In the whole of Amsterdam (OK, this is a village, as
capitols go and yes, I have seen New York and Istanbul, but still, this IS a
city) there are only four (4) ferrets left on sale.  And they happen to be
albino's.  Which is not exactly what I had in mind: white, sure, if that's
possible, but no matter how cute, those red eyes, you know, .....  That and
considering also that there were more than a few questionmarks hanging over
the obscure little petshop where I found them at last have made me decide
not to go ahead.
 
Though I admit it doesn't feel right, rejecting those lovely animals just
because of the color of their eyes .....
 
So now what? You tell me.
 
You may ask yourself: hey, what's a few more months, come June there will be
plenty again. But ask yourself if  you would do without your loved ones from
February till well into summer .....
 
I feel like a little kid who's been told what to expect for his next
birthday but realises that is still like six months ahead .....
 
VC
[Posted in FML issue 1469]