Hi.  I've been on the mailing list for a relatively short time.  One of
the things that I really like is seeing stories from others on their pets.
Here's an introduction to my family...
 
I have quite a menagerie (nothing like I had growing up on a farm, of
course, but still quite a collection for the usual city dweller).  I have a
large shepherd-lab mix.  She is 13 1/2 and quite tolerant of the other
members of the family.  She saw her first ferret about two years ago when a
neighbor got one.  She sniffed it and put her mouth very slowly and gently
around it.  I also have a cat, rescued as a kitten when I was in college.
She spent most of her formative years in our college apartment and didn't
meet too many people and no other animals.  She's really skittish and does
not like other animals.  It took her a long time to get used to the dog (who
stayed with my parents while I was at school).  She was almost 5 when I got
Jester.  It's been more than a year now, and she still doesn't like either
of the ferrets.  (Cocoa joined the family last February.)
 
I have wanted a ferret since I was in high school some 10+ years ago and
my neighbor had one.  While Christmas shopping, I was walking around the
mall and saw that one of the two resident pet stores was advertising ferrets
for sale.  They had one on the counter that hung out in his basket and
played with customers.  (This one was eventually adopted by Shelley, the
store manager.  She brought him into the store during the day so he could
be around her more of the time, and he would get used to being around
people.  Sadly, the ferret was stolen from the counter and never recovered.)
I began visiting the store whenever I was in the mall and soon picked out
one of the babies as the one that I wanted to take home.  While I waited
to get my license, I visited the store every night and played with Jester.
Her favorite thing was digging in the cedar shavings in a chinchilla box.
She also enjoyed eyeing the parrots, but luckily was too young and small
to get them (then!).
 
I got her home and set up the cage, litter box, etc.  I closed off the
kitchen and let her sniff around.  For the first two days, I couldn't
stop laughing at the Pac-Man noise that she makes when she plays.  After
a couple of days, I let Mitzi sniff Jester outside of the cage (Mitz had
spent the first two days with her nose to the bars trying to figure this
new creature out :-).  Then I let the two play, and Mitz seemed content
to just follow Jes around.  Muggs refused to walk by the cage to get to
food or litter.  I would carry her into the bathroom and she would eat
and go, then BOLT past the cage, back to the safety of my bedroom.  One
day I caught her sneaking veeeeery carefully and quietly up to the back
of the cage to sniff.  After that she seemed OK if Jes was in the cage,
but still frantic when she was out.
 
Last summer, I got a roommate who has a kitten (Charly just turned 1).
(Muggs, of course, hated Charly on sight.  After 6 months she is finally
tolerating having another cat around.)  Charly spent several days sitting
outside the ferret cage.  When we finally got the new apartment ferret-
proofed, I let them out to play.  Charly freaked out a bit at first, but
soon curiosity overcame her and she started following Jester around.  Jes
returned the curiosity, never having gotten close enough to Muggs to get
a really good sniff.  Soon the two were chasing each other, engaging in
fierce mock-battles and found sleeping curled up together under a bed.
 
Cocoa likes to bite feet...mine, Millie's (the roommate), Mitzi's, the
cats', visitors', whatever comes within reach and looks good.  This does
not make her popular, even with Charly.  Her latest fun is sneaking up
behind Muggs when she is lying on the couch and grabbing her scruff.  The
first time she did this, the cat bolted out into midair.  Cocoa went
flying off and landed with quite a thud.  Luckily for her, she is cute
enough in (almost) every other way that I love her anyway ;-) and as I
continually remind Muggs, I pay the rent (so I get to decide who lives
there).
 
[The only other pets we have are fish - Nicia and Mocha don't play with
them much...]
                                                                          
[Posted in FML 0049]