(That's a tongue-in-cheek subject header)
Katoe has become jumpy.  He is acting as if he's afraid of something.
Maybe his almost 4lb roommate Winnipeg (aka WinniPIG) has hurt him?  Maybe
a case of earmites makes a ferret jumpy?  He seems very shaken when I clean
his ears.  They do have some brown junk in them-deep within them, which may
explain his aversion to having me look in them.  He will either have to get
in line for an earmite cure, or room with the girls for a while.
 
Winnie has found a new bed.  All ferrets will crawl under my dresser to get
in the back of my lingerie drawer and pull out silken garments to make
themselves a bed.  It took the bulldozer Winnie to decide to crawl up into
the drawer from the bottom and sleep directly on the entire collection of
lovelies.  (Most of which are 15 years old and I will certainly never put
them on again, but can't bear to part with them.) Now Winnie has shared his
secret with Latte-Boy and I know where to find them both when things get
quiet around here.
 
Speaking of Winnie---his disposition is NOT improving much!  Oh, I can reach
into a trash bag and grope around blindly for his furry body and extract
him, and walk away unscathed----BUT --when we're just lounging around
reading or something, he will pull the old "sniff, sniff, sniff-lick, lick,
lick- bite, BITE!" trick, with which some of you, I am sure, are familiar.
That last BITE!  usually causes a spot of blood to escape my skin.  Now, I
do bleed more easily than some people, BUT, .........
 
and guess what, I can't go through any dominance routine, because that
seems to incite him to further play-aggression.  So, all I know to do is
put him away.
 
Not a ferret you'd take to the park to impress people as to what great pets
they are.  (Next I'll be writing"does anyone in Georgia want a big,
bloodthirsty, Canadian ferret?") Poor Winnie!  I do sometimes feel
apprehensive about him, and have really stopped letting him up to play when
little kids are visiting (The resident kids are not real crazy about his
wanton ways) I love him though.  He's really a small wildcat!
bye all ...Karen
[Posted in FML issue 1277]