Hi!  Thanks to Bryan Coffey for the funny sock experiments!  Some have
already been tried in a modified fashion.  Zodiac shows no sign of slowing
down on the sock experiments!
 
>Material sizing experiment: Tie similar socks together into clumps.  1
>sock, 2 socks tied together, 3 socks tied together, ..., N socks tied
>together.  Is sock size a criteria?
 
I don't think sock size matters, because she steals heavy, long hiking
socks of my husband's as well as little short footies of mine.  I haven't
tried tying socks together, though!
 
>Weighting experiment: Fill the socks with different weights and tie off:
>Fill with crumpled paper loosely, tightly packed crumpled paper, linen,
>bits of wood, marbles, lead weights.  Is weight a criteria?  (besides
>Zodiac might be interested in weight lifting too)
 
Hahahaha! We just had a good laugh over this one! We put a paperweight
in a sock and let Zodiac have at it! Usually, she grabs a sock and then
launches herself off the bed into midair like a flying squirrel, with
the sock streaming behind her. Only this time, the weighted sock hit the
floor first, and pulled Zodiac down rather abruptly, which surprised the
heck out of her! Nevertheless, she recovered quickly and proceeded to
drag the sock and paperweight behind the dresser.
 
>Availability experiment:  Tie the socks down.  Use varying lengths of
>string to tie down the socks.  6 inches, 12 inches, 2 feet, 4 feet,
>...and...BUNGIE CORD!  Is it possible that socks are just easiest to
>move?
 
We haven't tried varying lengths of string, but we have held on to the
socks, pinned them to the bedspread, and shut one end of them in a
drawer. She just keeps going! Tug tug tug! The ones I left shut in a
drawer she just chewed them off to get the rest of the sock. She also
chewed around the safety pin and left it pinned to the bedspread with a
frayed sock remnant. All this while leaving other easy-to-move laundry
items (such as underwear) on the bed.
 
>Appearence experiment: Do socks just look like other ferrets?  Try drawing
>faces on all of your socks.  Give some dog faces, some cat faces, and some
>ferret faces.  Does Zodiac prefer ferrets?
 
Uuuh, my hubby doesn't want faces on his socks! Pass on this one. ;-)
We have enough destroyed socks as it is!
 
>Sex discrimination experiment:  If Zodiac prefers men's socks, find out
>how far that sex discrimination goes.  Dress some of your men's socks in
>trousers, and some in dresses.  Does he prefer cross dressers, or
>ordinary socks?
 
Hmmm.  As far as I got here was to stuff a dirty men's dark sock into a
clean white women's sock.  Does that count?  The men's sock was extracted
and stolen first, and then the women's sock was removed as well.  I guess
Zodiac doesn't like cross-dressing socks!
 
- Erika and the dirty dozen (and Zodiac the sock thief)
[Posted in FML issue 2895]