Hi All,
 
May all your furries be Lively and Bright!
 
Tonight I was just cruising around on ebay and decided to search "weasel"
instead of "ferret" in case I was missing something special.  What I
realized I have been missing is all the ugly taxidermy stuff.  Well,
actually 1 piece actually looked beautiful.  But my mind just couldn't
stay away from the process of death and fear and all of that.  I kept
cruising and looking like some kind of voyeur.  Then I happened upon two
listings that said not taxidermy.  There on the page was the lifeless
little body of a ermine/weasel.  Just their body so lifeless and sad.
I wanted to buy them so I could give them a proper burial.  I cried.
My heart sank.  I thought about all the inhumanity and then I thought I
was no better.  I eat meat.  I eat chicken and beef.  I made myself sick.
Obviously this isn't against ebay policy.  They sell stuffed animals and
these were just pre-stuffed.  I just find something really ugly about
selling the little bodies of these wonderful creatures.  I just couldn't
help but feel the fear these guys had before their cruel deaths.  Deaths
just because we want to look at them.  We aren't eating them.  They
aren't helping to sustain life.  Now I can't get them out of my mind.
I know they aren't our ferrets.  But I can't help but feel very saddened
by their demise.  I am ashamed right now.
 
Okay something more positive- GUMBY ferts!!
 
I too have a gumby ferret.  His name is Diablo.  I call him "old man
fert".  He is my bed partner.  He sleeps with me most of the time.  I can
pet him for hours on end and he won't get all stuck up and move away.
When I am really sad I pick him up and bend him into a curl and stick him
on my chest.  He just snores softly.  That shallow little whistle of the
ferret breath.  He will hang out about half an hour on my chest till he
wants to get down and lay next to me instead.  Whenever I am sad (like
now) I can pick him up, turn him upside down, like a baby.  He will just
lay in my arms as long as I want him to, while I coo to him and play with
his feet and kiss his little chocolate nose.  He definitely is my gumby
fert!!
 
Thanks for listening you guys and letting me vent.  I hope I didn't go
too far,
 
With Love,
Mary Jo
[Posted in FML issue 5096]