I would STRONGLY recommend against letting the little ones have unsupervised
yard time.  My family lost a dear member because he snuck out, tunneled
under the fence, and tried to play with the Chow next door.  Total free time
in the yard, less than ten minutes.
 
Another incident, ending much less tragically, saw me (6'4") stretched to my
absolute limit, holding the hind haunches of a very determined carpet shark
as he climbed the Acacia over the fence and into the neighbors yard (All
those books that say ferrets can't climb were written by people who never
owned a ferret.  When the mood strikes them, they climb like Sir Edmund, and
damn fast to boot!!!)
 
Finally, one of my ferrets became so tramatized after an attack from a local
nesting raven that, if we want him in the house, all we have to do is caw,
and a furry brown streak flies into the house.  The raven swooped even
though we were sitting on the back porch watching the little ones play in
the grass.  I watched the whole thing, and I'm certain that the raven veered
off once it notice we humans sitting on the porch.  I hate to think of what
would have happened had we not been there.
 
On the other hand, a supervised trip to the big back yard is a delight for
everyone.  My children especially love to help me plant stuff.  I dig a
hole, fill it with water, and the kids go diving for bark pieces (why will
they immerse themselves in muddy water, yet disappear at bath time???).
When its time to go in, I squeek the squirrel squeeker, and the hallumphing
herd comes, well, hallumphing along.
 
The front yard is a bit more problematic.  They love to hide under the car,
planning their next move into the great outdoors.  In fact, they've made it
so much of a game (non-chalantly, seemingly randomly, yet with earnest
purpose maneuvering across the lawn until they are close enough for the mad
dash across the carport and under the car.  'go ahead, turn your back on me
for a tenth of a second, heh heh heh') that front yard forrays are a 'leash
only' event.
 
Moral of the story: never give a ferret a yard...
 
David M.
[Posted in FML issue 1609]