And then came Rustle...

When Rustle came to us, I was still hurting from losing my heart to
Linus. His face from the night he left me was still fresh in my memory,
and I still didn't want anyone or anything to "replace" him.

We picked us Rustle at the local wildlife park, from someone that had
"kidnapped" him, since his neighbors had tired of him, and used to let
him go play in the woods. (hence the reason we named him Rustle...thru
the leaves) It seemed that they were almost hoping the he would get
lost and not come back.

Shelter mom fell in love with him from the moment that he came out of
this guys car. Rustle was a beautiful Black Sable ferret, with a touch
of white on his chest and the most beautiful bright black eyes. He had
some strange bumps on him that we would have to get checked out, but
other than that, he seemed to be in good shape.

Crystal had always been somewhat envious of my relationship with my
Linus, so she staked her claim on Rustle right there in the car. We
hadn't even made it out of the park's parking lot, when she said "He's
going to be mine!". I just smiled and said ok, whatever. I told her
that it would be up to him, as we don't pick who the ferrets are going
to love us, they decide who they will love.

Over the next few days, we found out that Rustle had several bugs
living under his skin, I think Dr. K called them "cuderibra"(sp) or fly
larvae. We had them removed, and Dr. K was almost happy, they were her
first cuderebra in her practice. :)

I started warming up to Rustle, and it seemed that he had also taken a
liking to me. I don't know if he could sense that I was missing a piece
of my heart or what, but he started doing the things that Linus would
do. Rustle would meet me at the gate that separates the kitchen from
the entry door, every day when I got home from work. The first time he
did that, I started crying on the spot.

He had apparently made his choice, and it did piss off the wife. Rustle
had decided that he didn't want to be "hers"

While I often felt that I was dishonoring the memory of Linus, by
starting to fall in love with another ferret, I couldn't help myself.
Rustle quickly figured out how to climb into my heart and soul, never
to be let out. He would fall asleep in my arms, whenever I picked him
up. If I had to hand him over to "mom", even while he was asleep, he
would wiggle around and get down. Have you ever had a ferret look up at
you and seem to say, "Why the heck did you give me to her? I was quite
comfy where I was!"

Rustle was the most gentle and loving ferret, and quickly assumed the
vacant role of shelter mascot. He was so gentle and loving, that I
could hand him over to a 2-3 year old child, and have no fear that he
would bite or scratch the child. He made every trip to pet stores,
frolics and fairs around the area. People that got to know him, also
fell in love with him.

Rustle was also taken from me was too soon. He started getting sick,
and just seemed out of sorts. We couldn't seem to get a handle on what
was wrong with him, other than he had some type of infection that is
only associated with HIV patients. (Dr. S was planning to write a
paper on him)  We never figured out how he came to get this infection,
although Dr. S. thought he may have come in contact with someone at a
pet store that may have been infected. And I exposed him to them!:(  He
also developed pneumonia, and it was too much for him to fight. Another
huge piece of my heart was leaving me!

I now have them on our entertainment center, cremated and in memory
boxes. I say goodnight to both of them every night, and still cry with
I think of them.

So, if someone ever doubts that ferrets can pick someone to love, or
that they don't have or show compassion, I have two wooden boxes that
I'd like them to meet.

Jim Kennedy, Director
Ferret Rescue of Maine
A State licensed, 501c3 Non-profit shelter.
Donate to shelter ferrets by clicking
igive.com/from

[Posted in FML 6671]