We all know how much our fuzzies love their "tubes."  I have an extensive
series of tubes in the "playtime" part of the house, constructed using
black drainage pipe like what you buy at the hardware/lumber store.  My
boys love their tubes.  They are the five-inch type that have an inside
diameter of roughly four and one/half inches.  We've had this set-up for
a year now.
 
Last night, two ferrets tried to pass each other coming from opposite
directions.  One of them was Sugar, who's turned into a piglet since I
started feeding them Church's Chicken Gravy daily.  Anyway the fit was
tight and Butter, our little guy, evidently kept pushing to get by
Sugar's ample back end until they were both stuck.
 
This is where I come in.  I was sitting only five feet away and heard
this faint, persistent, ferret distress cry.  At first I thought it was
play noises, but slowly realized it was a cry for help.  I located the
two fuzzies at a junction of two pieces of tubing, opened up the tube,
and found two totally, completely stuck ferrets.  Pudgy Sugar was on his
back looking up at me, and all I could see of Butter was his back end
with his little feet flailing.  His head and chest were jammed tight
against Sugar's big tummy.  I tried pulling them out, one ferret at a
time, but they didn't budge an inch.  I mean they were really, really
stuck.  I realized that the reason the distress cry had been so faint was
that it was from Butter, who could barely breath because his front end
was packed in there so tightly.
 
I had to yell for help and get my spouse to hold the tube firmly while I
pulled Butter out with a steady, strong pull.  It wasn't easy.  Sugar
just kinda looked dumb, like "what happened, mom," but Butter was shook
up.  He let me hold him for several minutes once I'd released him from
his tight fit, a very un-Butter-like acceptance of loving arms and
holding still.  I watched him closely for quite a while to make sure he
hadn't suffered any broken ribs or other damage, but once he started
dooking and wrestling with his brothers, I knew he was ok.
 
Anyway, I never heard of such a thing happening before, and wanted to
share the experience with FML'rs so you can beware.  I was grateful that
our setup was limited to the supervised play area and was not in their
bedroom where I might not have heard the cries of distress.  I don't know
what I would have done if they'd been deep inside one of the 10 ft. long
tubes instead of at the junction of two tubes.
 
Has anyone else had a similar problem with their "tubes"?  Be careful
with your babies!
 
Cindy and the fuzzy crew: Cocoa, Butter, and Sugar (he's the one with
Chicken Gravy on his whiskers)
[Posted in FML issue 4260]