When first I set eyes on MiniMe...she was a baby ferret in a grungy pet
store. It was about 9 years ago. I thought she was a beauty. But I was
there to hand out typed up info. on ferts,and to get acquanted with the
employees there, and buy something so that I would not be viewed as a
pure pest.

Over the years I went to a number of pet stores. Back then, they
actually had professionally done signs that clearly said that ferrets
liked fruits and vegetables as part of their diet. Ferrets were being
pumped out by Marshall Farms that still had their eyes closed. Ferrets
were kept in cedar bedding.

Over a year went by. And I returned to the grungy shop yet again. Once
again, Minime...now fully grown...wAs being tormented by numerous baby
ferts. There was no bedding. She was in a rusted cage with large gaps
between the bottom bars making walking most difficult.

I was on my way to the Drs. But when I saw how tormented this full
grown ferret STILL was, I asked if I could pay for food to put in the
cage at least. The person behind the counter looked right through
me...a tough older lady with ratty hair and that chain smoking voice
with that stink to her clothes.

I held Minime and she bit the tar out of me. She had fleas. She was
being constantly nipped by babies with no where to go to escape as she
had been for over a year. No one was ever going to take her. She was
never going to be a safe pet. She had spent her childhood living in
hell. ANd thus, she became mine.

MiniMe spent many years fiercely biting me before she calmed down. She
could run staight up people and sit on top of their heads. She could
run straight up my clothes in the closet and live on the shelf above
where the clothes were hung. Imagine how long it took to figure out
where she had gone, or how worried I would be when I could not find
the brat.

Way back when, I would write about her escapades. What a character. And
she became one of the first cover girls on a ferret calander. She was
my Tazmanian Devil.

Once, when I came back from vacation, I heard the story of how she
escaped the main bedroom, and hid in the shelf above the clothes in the
second bedroom. She apparently pushed off a box onto the head of the
female sitter. The husband shared this with me with tears of laughter
running down his face.

His wife told me that they would not be pet sitting for me again.
Minime had done her in.

MiniMe has been the alpha of my home for many years. Even the feral cat
who lived with us during the day was submissive to her tyranny. Ferrets
learned to quickly walk away if they did not want a scruff and drag.
Only the boys who could roll on their backs in submission were allowed
in her entourage. Girl ferrets were just so much dirt beneath her
dainty sliver mitt feet.
 
As MiniMe grew older, and I needed to have most of my group baby sat
for, for about 3 weeks, I kept the tyrant with me. In doing so, I
invoked ..a major change.

The group returned with a new courage. The Queen of Mean was dethroned.
She spent the last two years being the one to do the back tracking.

In her last hurrah just the other day MiniMe attempted to scruff a
vibrant young ferret. She made her rounds to all the rooms. Here I
am. HA! Hold still while I feebly attempt to scruff you.

Princess Ralphina simply walked off. MiniMe had becomethe great
grandmother of ferrets. She had that very old ferret smell. The white
muzzle was aged. The once splendid silver coat now snow white and
sparce. Her old boney body skittered across carpets like a drunk. Her
balance was gone.

And then, at 9:05 this morning, the alpha animal for all these years
would not eat her breakfast. She had aged overnight despite feedings
every two hours the day before. She could not move. I held her and
sobbed and rocked her. She made small noises. Her eyes glazed over.

She curled in a ball in her baby blanket. And she went to sleep with
all those before her who so regally ruled hearth and home.

Sweet forever dreams,my Queen:
My MiniMe.

[Posted in FML 5806]