Courtney Scholl asked: What should I do about the required certification (of
vaccines)?
 
Courtney, as the GLFA Show Registrar, I can tell you the GLFA requires
either a veterinarian signed certificate OR the insert and/or lot number
from the distemper vaccine you used (along with the date given, of course).
Rabies vaccines in Michigan are required to be administered by a vet and so
only a vet signed rabies certificate will be accepted.  Hope this helps you.
 
Easel Weasel, my three-legged super ferret, has found a home!!  A wonderful
couple who I met through the FML came over on Wednesday and chose her to
take home with them.  She is fairly nippy, but after watching them work with
her, I know the additional one-on-one handling will make a world of
difference.  Melissa-I hope she gets along with the rest of your gang!!
 
My cute ferret story of the day:
My mother was relocating from Mississippi back to Michigan and was staying
with us til she could find a place of her own.  I only had two ferrets at
the time (Cooter and Lugnut) and she got along fine with both.  But Cooter
just loved to scare her and make her scream.  He would get in the kitchen
cupboards and climb up the drawers and get in the top drawer which had the
silverware in it.  Here comes the patience part, he would wait there
(sometimes as long as 10-15 min, imagine a ferret staying still that long
while still awake!!) for my mother to come open the drawer.  As soon as she
opened it he would POP up at her.  Of course, she never quite got used to
this (he didn't do it EVERY day!) and she would scream and jump back a
couple of steps.  Cooter loved this and would walk around the house
chuckling for hours afterward.  You could almost see the smirk on his face :)
 
Bill: I can't remember the gentlemans name I spoke to.  I only know he was
"fairly high up" in MF.  Everyone else was busy, so he took my call.  I told
him I had heard MF was a closed colony for several years and I was seeing MF
ferrets that didn't "look" the part.  When I asked had they brought in new
bloodlines, he said no, they were working with the same ferrets as always.
He did say their geneticists had "worked wonders" with their breeders (don't
know what he meant by that).  I guess when I referred to the changes, the
size struck me more than the color changes (your explanation there makes
sense to me).  I have seen big ferrets come from small ferrets, but there
are larger ferrets in the background.  If MF is using the same breeder lines
year after year, I don't think that would apply to them.  I agree with your
position that they must have introduced new lines.  In fact, if they did,
you'd think they would advertise the fact not try to hide it as one of my
concerns with MF ferrets is the lack of new lines.  I did hear once that the
reason most of their ferrets looked similar was the fact they bred for
research and in doing so prefer the animals to be as closely genetic as
possible.
 
To all those looking for Totally Ferret (I personally don't feed it, but to
each their own) I just got my new Jeffers catalog yesterday and they now
carry TF in 12.25 oz and 5lb.  bags.  Their number is 1-800-JEFFERS and they
deliver about anywhere.  I've dealt with them several times, and always get
good service.
 
I think this is long enough for today (put it where you want BIG:))
 
Tracy and her cute, lovable, adorable, kissy ferrets (No, I'm not
prejudiced!!!)
[Posted in FML issue 1670]