Well gang,
 
If you've been following my adventure in deciding to let a ferret take over
my life, you know that I've decide to get one.  Once that decision was made,
I had a couple of other things to decide:
 
1) What will I need (or not need), that the pet shop will forget (or include
   in one of those wonderful 'every-new-ferret-owner-must-have-one-of-these'
   packages) ?  {No offense to pet stores that know better, but (and THANKS
   to the FML for warning me about rubber balls & pine shavings) a couple of
   (no longer in consideration) pet shops have told me they inculde those in
   their ferret packages}
 
Hmmm!  I guess I need some:
 
   Ferretone (sounds like fun)
   hairball treatment (still don't know which one is best   ???? )
   some flexible ventilated sewer pipe ( do pet shops sell that?  ;-)  )
   koosh ball ( already have one, for supervised ONLY play)
 
Can you guys think of anything else???  I'd appreciate your ideas for what
else I need to get.  Maybe I can trade a soft rubber ball for something I
REALLY need.
 
2) What should I name this little critter?  I've seen requests on the ferret
   newsgroup for help, but, hmmmm.....I've saved all the mailing list posts,
   maybe there is a good name there.  So....., it's a dreary, cloudy day
   here, I'll just go thru these old posts and collect the names others have
   used and maybe I'll get an idea, let's see there's:
 
     Abbott, Alvin, Amelia, Anna, Ascot, Atlas, Auryn, Baby, Baby Face,
     Babycakes, Baggins, Bandit, Bear, Bee, BeeBee, Belle, Big Guy, Binky,
     Blaize, Boing, BooBoo, Brandy, Bug, Buzz, Calvin, Caruso, Casey,
     Cassie, Cedric, Charity, Coney, Connor Mackenzi, Courtney, Crazy,
     Cricket, Cully, Dana, Digger, Dodger, Dude, Duncan, Dweezil, Edith,
     Elliott, Emily, Emily Anne, Fang, Felicity, Fern, Ferrah, Fingers,
     Fivel, Flip, Fonzie, Fred, Fuzz, Gaoth, Gaston, Georgie, Gilligan,
     Gizmo, Graham, Gumbi, Gunther, Hooch, Ivan, Jake, Jasper, Jinx, Joop,
     Jordan, Kiva, Koti, Lalonnie, Lia, Lightstar, Litje, Little Guy, Loki,
     Lucy, Mad Dog, Maggie, Mako, Malone, Mariel, Martin, Max, Meetoo,
     Melissa, Mia, Milo, Minnie, Minx, Miranda, Mischief, Missy, Misty,
     Monster, Monty, Monzie, Mookie, Moose, Moti Mo, Newone, Nico, Nieva
     (Snow), Orville, Ozzie, Pace, Paleface, Panda, Pandora, Pepper, Peppy,
     Pippen, Pippi, Pogo, Precious, Puck, Quidni, Rajah, Raphael, Rascal,
     Raven, Razz, Reeba, Ripple, Rocket, Rocky, Rosie, Rowdy, Ruben, Sally,
     Scooter, Sebastian, Seth, Shaffer, Shamrock, Sheena, Shyla, Slinky,
     Smitty, Smokey, Snowball, Snowflake, Sobriety, Sorcha Delany, Sparky,
     Squirt, Stinkey, Stubby, Switch, Tasha, Tater, Taz, Tazz, Thrasher,
     Thunder, Timon, Tippy, Tiye, Toby, Tribble, Trillian, Trixie, Trouble,
     Turlough, Tygger, Vanilla, Zaphod, Zebulon Pike, Zeus, Zoom
 
I know this list is NOT complete, and for the lawyers listening, my future
fuzzie offers the following dookie disclamier:
 
    If your name appears on this list and you are a feline, canine, reptile,
    or, aviarian pet, please accept my sincerest appologies for the mix up.
    If you are a human and your name appears here, TS, you don't count
    anyway, you're only purpose in life is to feed me, make my life more
    fun, and provide plenty of socks.  If you are a cute little fuzzie and
    your name doen't appear in the above list, send my soon-to-be
    human-servant your name, address, phone number, measurements, and
    'exotic' interests and I'll contact you for a good time.
 
Well, after reviewing this list of names, I think I have narrowed it down
to three.
 
1) Generally used for males, but I think I'll add an 'a' to the end of it,
   if I find a female that I can't refuse.  I won't tell you what I've
   chosen, but I will say it's the name of a mischeivious vocal star.
 
2) The first name of a furry adventurer whose last name was included in
   the above list.
 
3) A green, flexible character who's always off on a new adventure.
 
Thanks to all of you.  This has not been an easy decision, but you have all
made me aware of the 'pros' and the 'cons' to ferret ownership, and I really
appreciate it.
 
"Is there water in this pool?", he said as he jumped off the diving board.
 
Thanks,
Ken
 
PS. Of course, after reading about how much fun 2 or more fuzzies can be,
maybe I'll just get three at once, and name them:
 
        Raz
        Ama
     &  Taz
 
:-)
[Posted in FML issue 1469]