I've had a few close calls with my fur kids disappearing. My heart
stops beating until the carpet shark reappears with an innocent looks
that says "I wasn't lost, Mom. I knew where I was the whole time"!

My most recent experience occurred a week ago when I could not locate
my "old man" ferret, Carlin. I have 9 ferrets and 4 separate playtimes
since they don't all get along. Carlin and Bear were the last group out
for the day. It was 11pm when I starting looking for them. Luckily,
Bear put herself to bed in their cage so she was easy to find. Carlin
is usually pretty easy to find because he only has few special sleeping
spots. Well, he could not be located in any of those spots. This is
when my heart stopped beating. Carlin has the habit of following me
around when he is out of his cage. My fear was he followed me out the
patio door that evening. Last year, he did just that, on a very warm
day, but luckily he didn't go very far even though he was probably
outside for at least 3 hours before I found him. He was hanging out
under the porch with that innocent look on his face, "I wasn't lost,
Mom. I knew where I was the whole time"!.

Back to last week. I started tearing the house apart, checking and
rechecking every place I thought he would be. I woke my husband up
at about 11:30pm to tell him I couldn't find Carlin and I needed a
flashlight. Then I went outside to look for Carlin, with a squeaky toy
in hand. It was a little cool outside and the grass was very wet so I
didn't think Carlin would have gotten very far if he indeed got outside
(he hates getting his feet wet and he is a little unsteady on his feet
due to neurological damage in his hind end). Meanwhile, my husband
takes up the search inside. When I came inside, he went outside. We did
this a couple of times before I heard noises coming from the laundry
room--a small room that was search several times. I stopped squeaking
the toy and sat on the floor and listened. I squeaked the toy again,
then listened--I did this several times. Finally, I was able to
determine the noise was coming from one of the cabinets. I opened up
the bottom drawer of the cabinet and there Carlin laid, all stretched
out on plastic bag that was probably put there by one of the other
carpet sharks--who got into the room when my husband or I forgot to
close the barrier to the room. My heart starting beating again when I
picked him up and saw that innocent look on his face. I hugged him
tightly. I called to my husband, who was still outside squeaking the
squeaky toy, to let him know that I found Carlin. He replied with a
few expletives, came in the house, and went back to bed. It was 1am by
this time. I went to bed about 1:15am, with Carlin sound asleep and
laying on my chest.

The laundry room is a no ferret zone. It is right next to the kitchen,
another no ferret zone. However, I have the habit of letting Carlin and
Bear go into both rooms since they usually just sniff around and walk
back out. Now they are supervised very closely when in these rooms and
I close the barrier when they are done exploring. I also frequently
check on them so I know where I can find them when it is time to go to
bed.

A couple of other close calls happened when I took Bear, Carlin, and
their cage mates Erin (RIP 1/08) and Avery (RIP 2/06), on a ferret
play date. On one occasion, Bear crawled up into my friend's stove. We
looked for her for a couple of hours. It was getting late and I decided
to load up the other fur kids and take them home. My friend said she
would keep looking for Bear. Just as I was about to drive off, my
friend came running out the door. She said that she heard a noise near
the stove and thought Bear may have gotten in it. Sure enough, she did.
We were able to coax Bear out of her hiding spot. My friend and I both
hugged her. I put her in the carrier with Carlin, Avery, and Erin and
took them home. Well, one would think my friend and I learned a lesson,
but a few months later, Erin pulled a disappearing act during a play
date. Yep, she got in the stove. But she was not easy to coax out. I
decided to take the other fur kids home and my friend was going to
leave food and water out for Erin, hoping she would hear Erin when she
decided to come out of her hiding spot. My friend did not get much
sleep that night. She called me about 5am to tell me Erin reappeared.
She put Erin the cage with her 2 fur kids. I caught up with my friend
on her way to work to reclaim my little Houdini. We finally learned
our lesson and our fur kids had their play dates in my friend's ferret
friendly basement after that.

All of my fur kids are trained to come to a squeaky toy. Also, a few of
them will come when their name is called and when they heard the word
"treat"! Of course, Carlin did not come to the squeaky toy, but he did
react to it by making enough noise for me to be able to find him --
little snot! And, Erin, well, she never came to a squeaky toy and she
didn't "learn" her name until a few months before she died--I think she
had selective hearing. One thing I have learned is that if I close a
door to room, like the bathroom, when there is no ferret in sight, one
will soon appear to scratch at the door (lol).

As long as I have had ferrets, I still need to remind myself to look
where I am walking and look down before going outside. These little
carpet sharks are quick and can disappear in an instant. I also need to
remind myself that no two ferrets are alike. I recently added four new
kids to my ferret clan. They each have their own unique personalities.
They have their favorite toys and have found unclaimed hidey holes in
which to stash their treasures. Their favorite toys include things like
my socks, under wear, maxi pads, hand cream, hair scrunchies, etc.!!
Yes, ferret proofing is an on-going process!! I rather spend my time
ferret proofing than looking for a lost ferret.

LISA & The Ferret Clan: Carlin, Bear, Lottie, George, Snowball, Nonnie,
Mony, Freya and Siduri. (RIP Avery 2/06, Angel 7/07, Turner 8/07, Erin
1/08, Mikey 2/08, Gracie 3/08, Fret 4/08, and Molly 6/08)

[Posted in FML 6098]