Hi y'all,
I love to read the FML but rarely post, even tho our ferrets are obviously
the most adorable around :).  We had to be out of the country for 5 weeks
Nov-Dec and have a farm plus dogs and cat.  We have a great friend who farm
sits for us and does a super job, but he is a little wary of the "kids."
(Rugsnakes is his nickname for them).  I worried off and on the whole time
we were gone, even tho we called in weekly.  Got home and out to the
solarium (20x40' area) where they had been confined.  Usually have the run
of the place when we are home.  Snoopy came to me at once to tell me all his
"mistreatment"-weighed at least 8 oz more than when we left- but no Rocky.
Squeaked, kissy sounds (his favorite), rattled Cheerios box, nothing!  Hoped
he was just miffed and hiding as our friend had decided it was too much
trouble to round them up each night to put them to bed in their kennel.
Next am no Rocky yet, so the search began.  He had pushed out a vent on the
side of the wall 2" and slipped out.  We fixed the vent and Bob and I spent
my birthday sqeaking toys all over the property.  About drove Snoopy mad.
Snoopy was combing the house looking for him too.  That night I had almost
given up, rain, storms Nasty!  when Bob heard a scratch at the wall.  He
could see Snoopy so knew it wasn't he.  I charged out the door to find a
bedraggled Rocky scratching at the sealed vent.  He dashed under the porch
but came to Kissy-kiss sounds much to my relief.  Snoopy promptly beat him
up for being AWOL.  As retribution for our abandoning them both forgot about
litter boxes the whole time we were gone and for over 2 weeks after our
return.  All back more or less to normal now.  What really scared me was
that Rocky had slipped his ID collar while we were gone and D.  had not
replaced it, so I knew he was out with no ID.  Speaking of collars, we have
very good luck with the c.  $3.00 dog collars lined with felt from BiMart-9"
size.  Have to make a new hole.  Each has a pet tag and bell.  We have 4 as
if they get caught they can easily wriggle out.  Be sure the collar is as
tight as possible to still force over the head.  They rarely lose them.  For
a harness there is a great H-style harness available in Eugene, OR for cats
which has a seat belt type fastener on both neck and belly strap.  Once
properly adjusted, putting them on is a snap (pun?) and they are almost
impossible to wriggle out of (nothing is truly impossible for a determined
ferret).  These are used only for outdoor walks and trips to the garden.
Speaking of hunting, our Snoopy has cleared a large rat population from our
home and I have seen him dispatch 2 good sized rats in seconds.  The rats
totally freak out when they smell him.  He does not seem to consider them
food, however.  Our rabbits do not seem unduly alarmed at ferret scent.
 
Cute stuff- Both our guys learned the sit-up and stand-up without any
training at all (other than an insatiable appetite for treats).  I'll have
to try the roll-over trick.  Favorite treats are dried date pieces, raisins,
cheerios, and Ferretone.  We also give Rocky Nutrical as he is a tad
underweight (esp.  compared to "the chunk" Snoopy.  We feed Iams kitten food
(both are about 2 yrs old alternating with Nutro natural kitten.  Special
treats are to let them steal from a box kitten food samples (any kind) or
Vita-Bones.  (they don't eat the latter but LOVE to stash them.)
 
Oh yes, while we were gone our club LAFL had a ferret birthday party, 25
people, 22 ferrets which got a great group color photo in the Sunday
edition of our local newspaper.  Even hit the TV station.  Really sorry
we missed it.
 
Nuff running on.  Health, Happiness and Joy to all our friends on the FML
and their buddies.
 
Pat Patterson & Bob Patterson
[Posted in FML issue 1449]