I've been an FML'er for almost a year, but have never stood up to introduce
myself or my family of fuzzies.  Warning, this will be a long post as I have
more than just a few fuzzies!
 
I got my first two ferrets when I offered to "foster" them for a rescue I
volunteer with.  The ferrets had been left in a cage in an apartment when
their owners decided to move out.  A note was left on their cage that said
"Please help find us a home.  Slinky and Pinky".  The apartment manager
found them 3 days later and not wanting to be bothered with them, called the
pound to come and get them.  That's where the rescue stepped in and rescued
the 2 ferrets from the pound.  I immediately fell in love with them and
adopted them (both sables about 3 yrs old).
 
A month and a half later, I ended up rushing Pinky to the 24 hour emergency
vet clinic.  She died of a liver disease that had been eating at her for
quite a while.  I was devastated and knew Slinky had to be feeling the loss
too.  So, I went to find him a new friend.  That's when I found a local
ferret club and ferret shelters.  We visited a shelter together and he chose
two friends, Cassie (5 yrs) and Zeus (4 yrs) - both sables.  I said okay and
that brought our family to three ferrets.  After getting Cassie, I had an
unexplained diminishing of socks.  Hmmm?
 
Several months later I visited another shelter and Munchie (3 yr blaze,
silver mitt) stole my heart.  My crew of three welcomed him with open arms.
 
Then, one day I went looking to add a silver.  The shelter had a silver
(Spook 4 yrs), but she came with 3 sable boys (Snoopy, Taz, and Bear - all
about 3 yrs).  The shelter had promised to adopt them all out together - and
she kept her promise, because I came home with them all!  Snoopy also has
fetish for socks, but he doesn't wait for you to take them off.  He helps
you take them off.  Only barefeet around him.
 
I added my first youngster when I gave Nirveli a home.  (Nirveli means
"water child".  She had a bad habit of sticking her head into the bottom of
the water dish and digging all the water out of the bowl until it was
empty).  Needless to say, I switched to a water bottle.  Nirveli's mother
is a ferret that had been rescued from a breeder with horrible living
conditions.  The breeder didn't even know the ferret was pregnant.  I got
Nirveli when she was 8 weeks old.
 
Simon, a silver boy also found his way to my house from the shelter.  For
some reason, his story evades me?
 
My next two were a special case - they had been severely mistreated at a pet
store and had developed into bad biters.  Our local shelter mom took them in
(she won't turn any ferrets away), worked with them, and taught them to
trust humans again.  They were nicknamed the "biter boys".  Befitting their
nickname, they were named "Billy the Kid" and "the Sundance Kid" (Billy and
Sundance for short).
 
You'd think I would stop here.  But ferret math took another massive leap -
I adopted four more.  This time, 2 male deaf blaze silver mitts (Pancho and
Spanky), a deaf marked BEW (Cosmo) and a dark silver (Wolfie).
 
My latest addition is my Valentine - a marked BEW, 3yrs, and possibly deaf.
He was a shelter pick-up that never made it to the shelter.  I called the
shelter and let her know he found himself a home at my place (the week
before Valentine's day).
 
If you kept up with the ferret math, then you know I have a fuzzy family of
17.  Believe it or not, they all get along wonderfully!  Playtime is better
described as "Romper Room".
 
You name it, I've probably had it as a pet (hamsters, chinchillas, gerbils,
rabbits, turtles, birds, etc).  I've loved them all.  But none have stolen
my heart so completely as my ferrets!!!
 
PS - Thanks 'BIG' for keeping this ferret forum running!!!  I can only
appreciate the time and energy you spend each day on the FML.
Chris Snoberger
[Posted in FML issue 2221]