A few months ago there was a thread where people were introducing
themselves, even if they had been on the ferret list for a while.  We
missed that first round but want now to (re)-introduce ourselves and to
give a belated introduction to the latest two members of our ferret family.
 
Clare and Bill Sebok live in Columbia, Maryland, which is about halfway
between Washington, DC and Baltimore.  Bill works as computer manager for
the Astronomy department at the University of Maryland, College Park, and
Clare teaches English at Goucher College in Towson, MD (just north of
Baltimore).  We have been members of the FML since June 1992.  At that time
we had Ben and Jerry, two silver-mitt ferrets that we adopted as kits in
January 1990.  We added another kit, Buttercup, in February 1994.  Buttercup
is a rather petite, dark sable ferret.  In April 1995, we added another
sable ferret, Bridgett, as a rescue.  We were told that she was "under a
year old." Bridgett had been so neglected that it took several months for
her to become a happy ferret.  Jasmine was added as a kit in October 1995.
We got Jasmine to be a friend for Bridgett, whom our other ferrets took
months to accept.  Jasmine is a ruby-eyed white who had gray markings on her
side.  Now she is almost completely white.  The family stayed at 5 ferrets
(plus a dog, Lupi) for about a year and a half.  Then on February 15, 1997,
Jerry died of kidney failure at age 7 years, 2 months.  Her sister Ben was
on chemotherapy for lymphoma during the spring and summer of 1997.  Then the
cancer began to resist the drugs.  She died August 22, 1997, at age 7 2/3
years.  We still miss Ben and Jerry very badly.
 
About a week after Ben's death, Bill saw a kit in a pet shop that resembled
Ben.  He just had to have that kit.  She had Ben's black nose and many of
Ben's markings.  There was also a male sable mitt ferret present who vaguely
resembled Jerry and looked enough like the Ben-ferret that he could be her
littermate.  On September 15, 1997, a couple of weeks later, we adopted both
ferrets.  We named them Bonnie and Charlie.
 
Bonnie is a silver-mitt with a cute white tip to her tail.  You can see a
picture of her at "http://www.astro.umd.edu/~wls/images/bonnie1/".  Her name
was picked because it sort of resembles the name Ben.  Her nose was
originally black like Ben's but has faded to just a little bit of dark
around the edges.  Bonnie has turned out to be a much more timid ferret than
Ben (who was boss and knew it).  Bonnie is a bouncy ferret who likes to
stash toys and Cheweasels.
 
Charlie is a sable-mitt with white feet and a small white dot on the back of
his head.  You can see a picture of him at
"http://www.astro.umd.edu/~wls/images/charlie1/".
He seems to have become the dominant ferret, because as a male he is bigger
than the other ferrets who are all female.  It is not as if he wants to be
boss, he just wants to play.
 
It now has been more than 6 months that we have had Bonnie and Charlie.
They do not and cannot replace Ben and Jerry, but their cheerful antics have
helped brighten our spirits.
 
You can read about our ferrets in more detail at our ferret page at
"http://www.astro.umd.edu/~wls/ferrets/".
I note with amusement that the Atlantic hurricanes this year that begin
with the letters B and C will be named Bonnie and Charley.
 
--- Bill and Clare Sebok
[Posted in FML issue 2280]