Hi all,
 
Well, my fiancee Paula and I just got back from Long Island where we spent
the weekend with my family, and while we were there we had the opportunity
to take a trip to Parrots Of The World, where we got to meet Marc Morrone
(who has appeared on both Martha Stewart and his local television show) and
Splash, the TV Ferret.
 
We found Marc to be a friendly and (as expected) knowledgeable person, who
was perfectly happy to talk about ferrets and other pets (he described
ferrets as his favorite pets) despite that on that Easter Sunday it was
very busy in his store.  Very nice of him.  We had a pleasant conversation.
 
The store also has a great selection of birds (as the store name suggests)
set up in an aviary room; the cockatiels, cockatoos, and many other birds
were out and available for petting, while others (including very young
ones) were in cages or glass.  The staff was very knowledgeable and takes
great care of all the animals.  You can tell by how good they look and how
friendly they are.  And they recommended against certain birds because they
were a bit more aggressive and it would be bad if my fiancee, who is on
blood thinners, got nipped by one.  So they showed they were interested in
matching the right animal with the right person, even if they wound up
selling a cheaper pet.  I know a lot of this should be common to any pet
store, but in my experience that just isn't the case.
 
They also had gophers, sugar gliders, a small bat or flying fox, puppies,
and other animals.  It was kinda like going to the zoo! :)
 
Splash The TV Ferret is a big and perfectly adorable Path Valley ferret who
has appeared a couple of times on the Martha Stewart segments.  He is very
gentle, so gentle in fact that he can be around birds and other animals
without fear.  He was happy to lay in my arms and relax, but when put down
was as active and inquisitive as any ferret I've seen.  He was in a display
full of kits and seemed happy as a clam, almost like a "father hen" with a
bunch of chicks!  It was very cute..  he's a perfect ferret ambassador.
There's a picture of him and Martha and Marc on the page linked at the end
of the email.
 
Unfortunately, the store was out of Angora Ferrets, so we didn't get to
see what the little puffballs looked like in person, but Marc promised
that more would be in during the summer on a more regular basis.
 
Marc let us in on something cool: He will be appearing on the cover of TV
Guide in a few weeks with Splash!  I assume that Martha will also be on
the cover as she is the one who gave him (and ferrets) some good national
TV exposure.  So watch your news stands!
 
Well, that's all. Hope everyone had a ferrety Easter/Passover!
 
PS: we resisted temptation and didn't buy any animals!  Not the right time.
But we did get two more leashes and harnesses so we can walk all five of
the kids at once!  :))
 
Mike, Paula, Buddy, Dickens, Daisy, Sweet Pea, and Winter
 
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[Posted in FML issue 3033]