Jackie Hawley asked me to post on the ferrets that are being fostered by the
Oregon Ferret Shelter.  Here is my report:
 
Last Thursday evening (December 11th) I spoke with Jean Smith about how else
the Oregon Ferret Association could help (we had previously sent about $500
in money and products).  When I mentioned possibly fostering some of her
ferrets, she jumped at the opportunity.  She felt that sending ill ferrets
to us would be too stressful so I suggested we take some of her healthy guys
for temporary foster.  On Saturday morning at 7:15am Lin Miller and I set
out for Spokane from Oregon City.
 
The trip was uneventful (except for horrible gusting 60 MPH winds in the
Columbia River Gorge that tried to blow us off of the road).  After 350
miles of driving, we arrived at 1:30.  We were greeted by hugs and smiles
from Jean.  You could immediately tell we were in a ferret lovers house.
There were almost a dozen ferrets on the floor enjoying some time out of
their cages (including one big "lug" of a male that was happiest to be held
100% of the time).  Amazingly.  there was virtually no odor of ferrets in
the air even though Jean has whole males.  The kennel (just another
lockable, large room in her house) was very, very clean.
 
The first ferrets we saw were active and alert and enjoying their spacious
cage accomodations.  Some were young ferrets and some were full-grown.
Frankly, for such a large number of animals, I haven't seen such beautiful
(no, make that stunning) ferrets.  Shelter ferrets tend to have lived hard
lives already and that seems to be reflected in their coats and attitudes.
Jean has some beautiful ferrets.  She's obviously doing something right.
However, some of the ferrets still bear scars of their attack (3 weeks
post-attack) and at least one had a shaved area from a visit to the vet.
Some ferrets were sequestered in another room with meds nearby.  Jean
mentioned that 3 were coming back from WSU on Saturday and 1 was under-going
a second surgery that day to remove an abcess.
 
I made a comment about a beautiful albino and was immediately corrected that
it was a wheat and that there were 5 shades of "white with red eyes".  She
also said that black-eyed whites (my favorite color) are sterling silvers.
I guess this is how the people that breed for color classify ferrets.
 
Jean said that Scott agreed to take 5 so we would only be taking 10 instead
of 15.  She couldn't locate one that was probably curled up asleep somewhere
in the house so we ended up with 9.  One boy was 14 weeks and the rest were
between 4.5 and 5.5 months old.  There are 3 boys and 6 girls.  Two of the
girls are on amoxi and the boy requires ferret soup.  He is very thin.  Jean
said he was the only one to survive the attack from his litter.
 
The ferrets made the trip just fine.  We arrived back at the shelter at
9:00pm.  Chris and crew had prepared cages while we were gone.  We've
nicknamed the ferrets so it's easier to keep track of them.  The little boy
is Hershey.  If he keeps eating soup the way he is, he will be a 6 pound
Hershey bar in a couple of months!  He's a piglet!  Chris (who runs the
shelter) loves his dark color.
 
"Trinket's daughter" is now nicknamed Emily.  It is so fitting.  She is the
most beautiful "albino" I have ever seen.  Her face has absolutely perfect
features and her coat is long and silky.  She has, according to Jean, a
natural bobtail.  "Go for it" (named by Jean) and Walker are both dark
silvers.  Walker has a jet black nose.  Teri is another "albino" who is
beautiful but not as stunning as Emily.  The other 4 don't have nicknames -
yet.  They all have lots of energy and seem playful.  Some are wary of us
big humans.  One albino girl is really bitey.  We'll work on that.
Hopefully by the time they return to Spokane, she will be just as sweet as
all of her companions.
 
        -Carla Almaraz
        Oregon Ferret Association
[Posted in FML issue 2156]