For those who don't remember, Ray is a rescue from Raymond, NH.  A little
nippy, but he's getting better.  He's made fast friends with two other
nippers, Lenny and Muffie.  He usually acts like their big brother even
though he is only about 10 months old, while Lenny and Muffie are nearly 3
years.  He has to clean their ears each bed time, and keep all other ferret
away from them.  Bedtime finds them all piled into one hammock - usually.
 
Last night, Lenny and Muffie decided to sleep in the bottom of the two story
cage rather than in the hammock, which swings on the second floor near the
food and water.  Maybe they thought their ears were clean enough.
 
Ray looked lonely up there by himself.  I guess he also thought that maybe
the girls would enjoy a snack with him down below.  He jumped down from the
hammock and lifted the food bowl over his head (spilling out half of the
food in the process) then proceeded over to the 3 x 7 inch opening in the
second floor, leading down to the ramp.  Of course he had to turn the bowl
sideways to get it through the opening, spilling most of the rest of the
food, but he got it through the opening and slid it down the ramp to the
bottom level.  Once there, he dragged it over to his sleeping pals and
proceeded to munch.
 
When they didn't wake up, Ray went over to the two who were piled in a
corner, and "tunneled" under Lenny who was on the bottom, trying to lift
them both over to the food bowl.
 
I guess neither were very hungry (if they had been, both were liberally
covered in food from when Ray turned the bowl sideways at the top of the
ramp).  Since they didn't get up, Ray joined the ferret pile and went to
sleep, leaving me to clean up the mess.  It's amazing how much food one of
those bowls hold when the food from it is scattered over half the den.
 
Ray is a nut case.
 
Dick B.
[Posted in FML issue 1874]