>From:    "A. Abate/C. Kinsey" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Barb, Vickie and Lynn
>You'll probably get a lot of mail on this, but my 2 cents worth says
>balloons are deadly to ferrets (as they can be to young children).  An
>errant piece of burst balloon can cause a fatal intestinal blockage in a
>ferret.  It will not show up on xray.
>        Ferret Rescue of the Western States (Colorado Springs)
 
Dear A. & C.,
 
I didn't get a word along these lines, but people may have held back
since I was writing about my beloved, recently lost Tarzan, and his
love of balloons.
 
By the way, blockages that may not show up on x-ray may be found when
barium is swallowed first and the barium followed through the system via
a series of x-rays.
 
I'm glad you wrote because I may not have been strong enough in my warning,
and it should have been more prominent.  NO rubber pieces should be left
where ferrets' feet patter, be it rubber bands, rubber washers, or rubber
balloons.  With Tarzee, I always kept balloons in my left pocket, and the
popped in the right, and all pieces were claimed immediately (usually one
to four).
 
Balloon antics do require absolute vigilance on the part of fuzzy
caretakers, so an argument could be made that some people won't be careful
or experienced enough to avoid risk, so balloons shouldn't be mentioned at
all.
 
But I wouldn't have passed up my Tarzee's love of the balloon hunt for the
world!  Of a bizillion things he loved, balloon popping was his all time
favorite (though close behind a rapid flurry of multiple sock stealing).
He would run around the yard and leap from perches right onto the balloon,
then push and bounce it all about until he had it cornered for the blast.
When a little wind was up and the balloon skipped away, he would run and
leap like the dickens his tail and back pluffed, so incredibly beautiful.
 
However, now that Tarzee is gone, one balloon lasts for eons.  I can blow a
gentle raspberry onto any of the fuzzies noses in complete safety of my
hands.  Tarz would NEVER have stood for receiving balloon raspberries!...
but would have whirled and killed the partially inflated noisy balloon.
 
BUT, though alas I have no balloon poppers now - Petey proved a dud -
I've discovered that funny balloon sounds get fuzzies riled into play
action faster than anything I've tried!
 
In fact, using the mouth of an inflated, untied balloon, I was laboring at
a tune of "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" while sitting on our shop's stoop, as
two fuzzies explored within.  So intent had I become on my merciless tune
that I didn't see they'd both shown up and in a flurry the balloon was
under attack!  Lucy was making mad dashes at it and soon destroyed it with
a KABLOM!.  To see if it was coincidence I tried another balloon, ekeing
out "Jingle Bells" (thinking that would be easier since it's always picked
for those Meowing and Barking Christmas renditions), and Lucy sunk one
tooth in with a downward stroke - BAM!
 
With hope of a ripening balloon popper, I blew one up, tied a knot and
tossed it to the wind and grass and... nothing.  No upward gleeful leap and
bounding and jumping and racing and hopping... just a still balloon lying
on the dried, summer grass.
 
For Tarz lay curled in his grave across the yard.
 
 ...I have had a second balloon go off in my face, though.  So I know
Tarzee's spirit is alive and full of old tricks!
 
Lynn, with no pieces to pick up, and Tarz, the free wheeling spirit
[Posted in FML issue 2413]