There has been some discussion on whether or not a ferret has memories.
 
A month ago, a 'found' ferret came into my home, a wonderfully loving dark
sable neutered male.  He was found by a friend, 5 miles from civilization.
This guy was healthy as an ox, but..obviously been on his own for a while.
(His nails were naturally worn and his poop consisted of animal parts....
Stunk too!)
 
Any-who, as much as I wanted to keep the wayward boy, I advertised and soon
a caller convinced me their lost boy was in my house.  (I asked what their
fuzzy's name was...heh..Mr. Friendly or Frenny for short.  They said he
always came running upon hearing his name.  I told the lady on the phone to
hold a sec and called...MR.  FRIENDLY!  Yup..here he came, a hundred ferret
miles per hour.  Sadly (for me!) I told the caller my address and she came
right over.  Mr. Friendly had been gone over a month, and as they lived on
the edge of the desert, figured their boy was coyote food.
 
Well..when owner and fuzzy were united, there was no doubt who he belonged
to.  This fert was a cuddly ferret..he was very content to sleep in my lap
while I played computer geek.  Welp..when mom picked him up to whisper sweet
nothin's that little guy just burrowed into her neck and started kissing her
and after 15 minutes, he was still kissing!  He couldn't burrow deep enough
into her neck.
 
Yes Elizabeth, there is a Santa, er..ferrets have memories, I am convinced
of that after witnessing that reunion.
 
On another note...I too saw the HGTV pet show that featured the ferrets.  It
was a positive presentation of ferrets and they did stress that ferrets were
DOMESTICATED, but...they did pass on the old saw about mummified ferrets
being found in the tombs of ancient Egyptians.  Very misleading.  Also, one
of the ferts they had, looked quite old..skinny and very arched back with no
mobility.  The other ferts looked fat and healthy.  (There were 4 adults and
2 kits.)
 
Happy endings are so gratifying...DAMN IT!  <GRIN>
 
Joe
[Posted in FML issue 1875]