To Jeff Johnston,
 
Also be sure to check for loose window screens (if you tend to keep your=
windows open for air, anyway), and re-check them periodically to make sure
your little guy isn't gradually munching through the mesh.  Although your
window sills may be so high that you don't think you need to worry about
them, ferrets have secret ways of getting into/onto places that you'd never
believe!  I use an old drafting table for my computer, for example, and
although I still have no idea how Clover, my 7-month old sable, got up
there (it's waist-high, with smooth wooden legs), I came into the office
one day to find that she had turned on my computer and renamed one of my
icons!  (if you can call [[[[[[[ a name!) Maybe she did a Tarzan-swing from
one of the hanging Philodendron vines!  Believe me, your ferret will end up
in the oddest places.  So check high and low.
 
A painless way to get fuzzy nails clipped:
 
Although this may be old news to some, I just found the perfect way to clip
a ferret's nails!  First, I got one of those clippers designed for samll
animals.  It looks like a child's scissors, but with an indentation in one
of the blades to hold the nail, so you can do it one-handed.  Then I hold
the critter by the scruff, which makes him go completely limp, and clip his
nails with my other hand!  It's so easy!
 
Although Clover, is learning that obeying the command "stay" while she lies
on her back in my lap and I clip her nails gets the whole process over
sooner than when she struggles every half-second; there is *nothing* that
will keep Alfalfa (the young monster fuzzy) still!  Raisins?  Who cares.
Ferretone?  Why bother when there's so much to explore and so little time!
Even two people can't hold those little feet still!  But scruffing him
works like magic!  I let his rear end rest in my lap to give his neck and
my arm a rest (he's getting heavy!), but if he starts to struggle, I just
dangle him and he goes limp again.  What a miracle!
 
Nancy and the menagerie:
Clover - I empty the shelves.
Alfalfa - why walk when I can bounce?
Tor (dog) - duh, where'd those little rats go?
Spunky (cat) - Tor, you hog, I want a turn at ferret-wrestling!
Elsa (cat) - go away, leave me alone!
Cory (parrot) - what's the point of all these smelly, furred creatures?
 
 
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       (-@^@-)      "it's out there!"
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[log in to unmask] (Nancy Farlow)
[Posted in FML issue 1278]