The recent discussion about dying ferrets different colors made me recall
an incident a few years ago...
 
For the first year or so after she arrived, Bubo (a very light silver)
got into EVERYTHING imaginable and a few things that were beyond my
imagination.  She became the poster ferret for ferret-proofing my
apartment. :)  Anyway, a few months after her arrival I decided to spend
a weekend at my mother's house.  The ferrets are used to being alone for
a day or two so this was no big deal.  Upon my return to my apartment I
immediately started counting noses.  (I had three ferrets at the time.)
I found two of 'em immediately -- and a big mess on my desk.
 
Back then I had an older Hewlett Packard color inkjet printer.  As anyone
with an inkjet printer knows, the ink cartridges are expensive.  So I,
like many people, used one of those refill kits to recycle my ink
cartridges.  The refill kit consisted of four plastic containers of ink
(one of each color) and some plastic syringe-type devices to refill the
cartridges.  The kit was kept in a small cardboard box next to my printer
which was on my desk next to my computer.
 
While I was away, Bubo managed to get up to the top of the desk.  (I later
figured out how she did it.  She climbed from the floor to the lower
shelf, then from the lower shelf to the middle shelf.  From there, she
reached up and pushed the keyboard tray out about two inches, then climbed
up to the keyboard tray.  From there she walked to the front of the tray
and voila -- right up to the desk.  Smart!)  While she was exploring my
desk, she came upon the refill kit.  She decided the four ink bottles
should be hers, so she grabbed 'em and pushed a couple of them off the
desk.  The yellow and magenta bottles were otherwise untouched on the
floor; the black and cyan stayed on the desk.
 
Apparently one of the bottles was "tastier" than the others; she chewed
through the plastic bottle that was holding the cyan ink.  For the next
several minutes she continued chewing through the plastic bottle while ink
slowly dribbled out of the bottle and all over my desk -- and all over
Bubo!  When I came home and finally found Bubo, practically her entire
face as well as her chin, chest, front paws, and much of her upper body
was COVERED in cyan ink!  Plus some of her tail and the bottom of her body
was tinted as well (from walking through the puddles of ink).  There were
little ferret footprints ALL OVER my desk, showing me exactly what she did
after she invaded the ink bottles.  (Fortunately the carpet is dark green
so there were no big problems there.)
 
I couldn't help but laugh over the whole thing.  Bubo was none the worse
for wear; the ink was non-toxic, and I figured she was already "punished"
for her deeds by looking a bit like Weasel Smurf. :)  I gave her a bath
afterwards but it didn't help any.  For the next two months or so her face
and front of her body showed the evidence, and it took about six MONTHS
for all of the ink to wear off (the last of it from her paws).  I referred
to her as "Blue-bo" for almost a year afterwards. :)
[Posted in FML issue 3726]