I wanted to say a few words about a famous ferret that passed away this
past week.  Those who have been on the FML for a few years will recognize
the name, "Kouri" of Georgia, the West coast one.
 
Kouri embodied everything that was "ferret".  Many of us have enjoyed
years of his owner, Georgia Wood, telling us of his adventures.  So
unique was this ferret, a club was begun in his name called "the Kouri
Fan Klub".  His owner, a little old eccentric lady (running like heck
right now) ... err she'd rather be called quirky and bohemian ... told
of funny stories about this ferret getting magazines, being enrolled in
gardening clubs, winning honors in the NRA from Charlton Heston, building
real cat-a-pults, and even receiving a telephone call from a bewildered
young man who didn't realize he was a ferret (yes, she gave the phone to
the ferret).
 
His mischievous and clever personality can be read about at his website:
http://geocities.com/kourifanclub/ .  Please check it out, I assure you
it will be grand fun when you explore this witty place on the web.
Sharon Beardon and Georgia Wood made it possible for anybody to join
whether you are human, ferret, or otherwise.
 
Kouri was/is special to Sean and Rocky.  Let me tell you why.  Years ago,
when Sean was still quite symptomatic and he had just adopted Rocky,
Georgia wrote me.  She was one of the first people off the FML to ever
offer a hand of friendship.  It was refreshing to answer her questions
about autism and about Sean himself in relation to ferrets.  She had no
fear of doing so.  And I welcomed that.  She soon wanted to send Sean a
crocheted ferret afghan, two sleepers as well as other goodies.  I had
never told anybody my real name online, let alone given an address.  Gut
instinct told me that I could trust her.  She took pain staking steps
in making sure that each thing was not just the exact color that Sean
wanted, but the exact shade and "feel"..  Pretty soon, Georgia, sent
photos of Kouri.  The first photo she sent is the now famous photo of
him in reading glasses.  Sean, in all his innocence, gasped and asked me,
"what else can Kouri do, besides knit, mommy"?  Sean believed in Kouri
just as strongly as he believed in Santa Clause.  He was a magical ferret
that could do anything and everything.  It wasn't until this past year
that Sean would giggle and tell me that he now realized that Kouri really
can't bake cookies, play drums and make afghans.  I keep telling him that
indeed he can!
 
Somewhere around the time that White Russian was nearing Rainbow Bridge,
Georgia wrote me that a routine ADV test came back positive for Kouri.
"You could knock me over with a feather right now", I remember her saying
to me.  Now Kouri seemed to have an ever more important role in the
ferret world.  He stood for routine ADV testing, and especially stood
for why you should test before a ferret event.  He helped people to
realize this should be done, and how it can help to ID positive ferrets
early on (and prevent the spread to other ferrets).  His famous photo
has the honor of being the middle square in Alicia's ADV quilt that
travels to events.  It's hard to believe that when I saw and touched that
beautiful project in October he was still alive.  Still alive ... living
by the sea in a houseboat with his parents, cage mates and fat kitty.
Still alive... baking cookies with his mother, playing with his catapult,
napping by his father, and no doubt munching down the occasional octopi.
 
Thanks for those memories Kouri.  Thanks for all you did and still
continue to do for ferrets.  Thank you for helping to spread the word
about ADV.  And most of all ... thank you from the bottom of my heart
for making a little boys' world just a little more magical.
 
Wolfy
[Posted in FML issue 4345]