I cage my ferrets when I'm not home - when I am, someone is always up.  I
would never think of leaving them uncaged and go out - I have dogs and cats.
Kelleen, you mentioned you had a terrier - do you leave your ferrets loose
with the dog unattended???
 
This, IMO, is a dangerous thing to do - as dangerous as leaving a baby and a
dog together unsupervised.
 
As much as one can ferret-proof their house, there are always little trouble
spots for a ferret to get into - if no-one is around to help them out of
their messes, they could easily die!
 
The poster who brought up the point about a fire is right on = our shelter
director had a fire in her kitchen (her teens were cooking and forgot the
stuff on the stove) 2 months ago while she wasn't home - the fire dept
showed up and what saved her ferrets was that they were altogether in cages -
she lost no shelter ferrets and no ferrets of her own.  Her dogs were also
crated, so it was easy for the FD to easily get them out.
 
She has 24 ferrets in her house - 14 shelter ferrets and 10 of her own - if
they were spread out all over the place, I think there would have been some
casualties.  The FD would NOT have taken the time to check under beds, under
couches, etc.
 
My cages are big, but I have carriers sitting on top of the cages ready to
go.  If anything happens I can grab the ferrets, throw them in and run out
the door.
 
while I do not agree with those of you who let your ferrets run free, please
give consideration to those of us who choose to cage our ferrets when we're
not home to supervise.
 
Not all my ferrets run together either.  I found that with 15 - 20 ferrets
running around at the same time, it was hard for me to tell if someone who
was sick was hiding.  This happened to me a couple of times.  So now I run
smaller groups - if one is missing, it's easier for me to notice with only a
group of 4 or 5 rather than with 15 or 20.  It also gives me better one-
on-one with those up at the time, rather than spreading myself too thin - a
big group will crash for naps just as easily as a small group, resulting in
some ferrets not really being played with.  I can handle the smaller groups
easier.
 
Do all you people who let your ferrets run loose, also let them run loose
when you're doing things around the house?  Washing floors, painting, etc?
I find it difficult to keep them out of trouble when I clean, so everybody
is caged when I do that.  Mickey accidentally got shut in the refrigerator
once when I was cleaning it, and Mandy got shut in the dishwasher (not
running thank God) = it's too easy for something to happen so designated
play time is the rule at my house.
 
Debbie Riccio
WNYFLFA
Rochester, NY
[Posted in FML issue 1596]