Well, someone didn't shut the window tight in the livingroom a few days ago,
and Cal, Max and Pepper (I call them the Three Musketeers now) hopped
outside and went for a jaunt in my neighbors yard!  My neighbor knocked on
my door and excitedly announced there were *ferrets* in his yard and under
his porch!  He said it almost like they were infesting the place!  I went
outside (well, ran frantically outside nearly hyperventilating) and there
was my neighbor with this astonished look on his face staring at Max and
Pepper dancing in his grass and ducking under the porch!!!
 
The porch was fenced off with wood lattice with holes only big enough for
ferrets, not even hands, and they'd duck under there and *dig and dance and
roll and fluff* and then come bounding out again and dance in the grass.
Geeze, they were having a good old time!  Pepper came right to me when I
called, and Max had to be coaxed partially out (whereupon I *grabbed* his
head and extracted him.  He wasn't thrilled, but I was scared to death he'd
go deep under the porch where I couldn't get him.  The space under there was
only big enough for maybe a 3 year old child.
 
I trotted them home and told my daughter to gather and count, when they
neighbor came back and said there was *more*.  Oh god.  So I went back (I
was in my socks ... no time to put on shoes ... and it was cold and wet out
there) and saw Cal spot me and DASH under the porch.  I tried calling him
out, but he went way back in the corner.  Luckily, when we moved a garbage
can around the other side of the house, he peeked out and decided to turn
himself in.  Phew!
 
They were filthy and dusty, but boy was I happy they were okay.  The other
guys had continued doing their thing inside the house.  We found Katie in
the basement (I still don't know how she got there ... she must have crawled
under the gate since there is no way to get into the basement from the front
porch).  Now I'm working hard on making some kind of harness to attach bells
and tags to that I can leave on them all the time.  Geeze.
 
-----
On a sadder note, there were still 5 ferrets (about 13 weeks old now they
said) at the Parkway Center Mall in Greentree from the Chambersburg batch.
The employee I spoke to let me see them, but refused to touch them (she'd
apparently gotten nailed pretty good).  They sure seemed like the same guys
I'd seen.  It was a shame.  They were very dusty (they were sleeping in
their litter box) and seemed dirtier than they should have been.  I suspect
no one wants to wash them.  I doubt they're going to sell like this.  They
aren't as bad as the little albino I spoke about before, but they bite
harder for less reason than other ferrets I've held.  And if the employees
are afraid of them, they're not going to get better.  :( I feel so bad for
them.  I don't know what happened to the albino.  I'm almost afraid to ask.
 
--Barb--
 
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Barbara Carlson                   Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA
[log in to unmask]                                      (412) 481-5927
 http://www.gsia.cmu.edu/andrew/bcarlson/home.html (under construction)
Thought for the day:
    If "boring women have immaculate homes," I must be very interesting!
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[Posted in FML issue 1558]