Condolences to those with lost, sick, or angeled Shirt Snugglers...
 
Yesterday (Tuesday) was sheer bedlam at my house.  I bought a pack of 3
jingle balls.  These are little plastic balls with shapes cut out and a
metal "bell" inside, which contains a metal bead.  When the ball is rolled
around, the "bell" moves within and the bead hits the sides, causing a
jingling sound.
 
Now, mind you, I've had at least two jingle balls in the house for over a
year.  Chewy has one in his cage and the other one floats about the house.
Sometimes the cat plays with it (causing an immediate attempt by a nearby
ferret to steal it from him!), sometimes one of the other ferrets play
with it.  Sometimes it even gets stashed in a cage and has to be removed
so everyone can play with it.
 
Well, these new balls seemed to rekindle the memories of fun times nosing
a jingle ball around the house in everyone.  First, Taz had a ball chasing
them about the living room while the poor cat crouched on the coffee table
and watched.  The cat was fit to be tied, wishing he had the nerve to get
on the floor and chase one of the balls, but knowing full well that the
ferret would punish him if he tried!
 
Next, Chewy got to play with them.  He was in second heaven.  Snacks were
ignored (!!!), toys were ignored...even the water bowl (a source of endless
amusement on his part) was ignored!  Every time I looked for him, he was
nosing a ball in one direction or other.  When it was his time to go back
into his cage, he got the ball there and played with it for quite some
time! :)
 
When the large group was out, that was when the excitement started!  Every
ball available was put to immediate use.  Everywhere you looked, a ball was
being nosed all about the living room or kitchen.  Add-A-Kiss took one up
the stairs and dropped it, then watched as it bounced all the way to the
bottom.  She then scurried down as fast as she could (let's just say that
all you could see was a blur!) to retrieve the ball and trot back up the
stairs to do it all again!
 
The funniest part, was when one of those that didn't have a ball to nose
around, would wait in ambush for a ball-nosing fert to pass by.  The hiding
fert would then fly out from their hiding place, commit assault and battery
on the ball-nosing fert, then steal their ball and start nosing it around
on their own!  The best part, was that you couldn't ever tell where a fert
would be waiting in ambush...from under the corner table (which only has an
opening of about 1/2" above the floor, or the credenza, which has a higher
opening...about 1.5 inches...or the new two-level kitty kondo (which is WAY
too small for my cat to get into!), or the bookshelf (where there are lots
of things to hide behind!), or one of the various nooks and crannies where
they've found good hiding places.  The attacks were quick, vicious and
merciless, with balls being stolen right and left!
 
This ball rolling and ambushing continued for more than an hour, often
times causing me to burst into side-spltting laughter.  Even the cat
seemed to enjoy watching the ferts stealing the balls from each other.
Occasionally, from his perch on the chair, or the coffee table, he would
reach down and swat a ball away from a fert intent on nosing it one
direction or other.  The fert would then race after it, lest they lose it
to another fert!
 
I guess the funniest moment was when the cat reached down from his spot on
the chair and caught one ball in two paws.  He lifted it up onto the chair
to play with it.  The fert that had been nosing it around seemed totally
unaware that the cat had anything to do with his suddenly-missing ball.
He began frantically searching for the ball, while the cat just sat there
smiling!
 
Now, don't get me wrong.  The ferrets have all played with the two balls
that I already had, from the very beginning.  However, none of them (except
maybe Chewy, who LOVES those little jingle things--and the cat, of course)
have spent this much time playing with them.  When I put out the new ones,
they also played with the old one that was still out.  It was almost as
though they were kids set loose in a toy store!  I guess sometimes, it is
more enjoyable to watch someone else (even if its a pet) have fun with
something that you've provided, than it is to go out and have the fun
yourself! :)
 
Todd and the (MINEMINEMINEMINEMINE) Fuzzbutt Rodeo Clowns!
 
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[Posted in FML issue 3245]