I see Gerri neglected to tell you of my tortureous techniques I impose on
these sweet little imps.  :-)
 
Squirt is a little angel compared to the new boys.  Onyx and Dippy are
apprentice angels, and Dante, well let's just say he hasn't quite reached
either status yet.  When the boys first arrived, Squirt's eyes got big
and she looked up at me as if to say "What the heck are these and why
are they here in my house????"
 
Dante's teeth are sharp and big.  His biting was quite innocent though
quite painful to me.  My fingers, hands and arms sport scratches and
piercings.  Soooo because Dante chooses to be stubborn about the entire
no-bite-hard lessons, we moved on to apple cider vinegar.  I placed a
baby jar on the counter, half filled with vinegar, added a handful of
q-tips and waited for the fun to begin.
 
It wasn't long before Dante tracked me down and excitedly bit my hands
as I picked him up.  I did the usual no-bite pointy finger method which
he promptly grabbed onto with no intention of letting go anytime soon.
I grimaced, balanced him under my arm and reached with great glee for
the vinegar saturated q-tip!  As the q-tip slowly came closer, this sweet
innocent unsuspecting victim continued to happily gnaw on my fingers....
slowly, ever so slowly, like a slow motion movie the q-tip came closer
and closer until I was at his mouth.  He noticed the q-tip and turned and
clamped down on it.  Ah hah I got you I cried out.  Dante shook his head,
spitting and sneezing - all over my face I'd like to add, and acted like
I'd just given him that horrible Flagyl!  He grabbed the q-tip himself!
Dante was scrambling to get down so I set him down on the floor and he
headed right for my ankles (oh by the way my ankles look very similar to
my hands and arms as I refuse to wear long pants when it is hot), so I
swiped the q-tip around my ankles right before he lunged for that very
tender area of flesh.  As soon as Dante got close enough and smelled the
vinegar he started spitting and sneezing again, this time without tasting
the vinegar!  Now when Dante bites too hard, I swipe a q-tip across the
area he is biting and he quickly retracts.
 
So you see, the ferrets pay a very high price for living with me. :-)
 
Leo is a bully.  When I tried the vinegar saturated q-tip with him after
he pestered someone to screaching mode, he tried to EAT the q-tip and
as I pulled it away from him he was lunging for it with great intent to
swallow it hole! No accounting for taste with these little ones.
 
Onyx and Dippy took a bit to warm up to Dante because he was so rough.
Now they romp, tussel, tube, wrestle as best friends.  Squirt has calmed
more that the boys are here and she plays with them a bit but when they
get too rough she heads for safer ground.  Of course a game of chase
ensues but Squirt is smaller and more agile and can easily out-manuever
these clumsy boys.  Not so for the older ferrets so I'm on constant watch
to make sure they youngsters don't pester oldsters.  Rambo is not sure
about the boys.  Before they came, Squirt and Rambo were quite the pair.
Their energy level was fairly matched even though Rambo is several years
older than youngster Squirt.  Poor Rambo, his true love has others of her
own age now and he often isn't included in the games.  :-( I've noticed
Rambo has put on a few ounces as he's drowning his heartache in the
recipe bowl....
 
Gerri did an excellent job on calming Onyx, Dippy, and Squirt's biting
tendencies.
 
hugs to all.
tle
[Posted in FML issue 5368]