Videos
 
A month or so ago I had quite a run with accidentally picking videos out
that had appearences by ferrets.  My family unfairly accused me of a ferret
bias, but it was really just coincidence!
 
The first was _Merlin of the Crystal Cave_ (based on the novel _The Crystal
Cave_ by Mary Stewart, which doesn't mention ferrets).  When the young
Merlin was being taught his magical skills part of his training was healing
wild animals.  They showed him healing a very non-wild looking, fat, boofy,
sable ferret!
 
The other was _The Secret Garden_, based on the children's book.  One of
Dickon's creatures in the garden was a sable ferret.
 
Books
 
In the third book of Robin Hobb's _Farseeer Trilogy_, _Assasin's Quest_, a
ferret plays a small but heroic part.  The hero of _Assasin's Quest_ can
mind bond with animals - he is bonded to a wolf.  Those who can mind bond
are persecuted by the evil king, who is the hero's uncle.  The hero is on a
mission to try and kill his uncle (thus freeing the kingdom from his
tyranical rule and opening the way for the true heir to gain the throne),
but he doesn't realise he is walking into a trap.  At the crucial moment he
is warned by Little Ferret.  Little Ferret's bond companion, Big Ferret, was
killed by the evil king, but before he died he sent Little Ferret to warn
the hero.
 
p264-265
"I almost cried out when a small warm body suddenly struck my leg and and
then ran up my clothes.  In a moment, a ferret poked its whiskery face into
mine.  Trap-trap, he insisted.  Go away, go away" ...
"A tiny, savagely predatory mind was his, and I sensed a great anger in him.
I would not have chosen such a bond animal for myself, but someone had.
Someone who was no more"...
"Fierce as he was, he still seemed small and all alone.  To touch minds with
him was like seeing what remained of an animal cloven in two.  The pain
drove from his mind all save his purpose."
 
I don't usually like hero on a quest kind of fantasy books, but I'd
recommend these.  As a ferret lover I thought the trilogy had an excellent
ending!  But I will divulge no more in case someone actually reads them...
 
Kylie
 
Kylie Preisig, Perth, Western Austraila
[log in to unmask]
First Aid Officer, WA Ferrets and Ferreting Society
The opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of my employer.
[Posted in FML issue 1964]