Dear Ferret Folks-
Well, Ping is He's day was particularly busy.
 
First, he climbed the forbidden kitchen counter, knocking over the coffee
water container, and the coffee container, which fortunately had a tight
lid, so it didn't spill everywhere.  While he was in the nieghbourhood,
he also knocked over a small plastic figurine of a Lady Klingon Warrior
Princess.  He also upended a robin's nest that I collected from a tree,
and knocked over one of my two yellow plastic hippo figurines (the coin
bank one) given to me by my sister in law.  I keep them next to the
coffee maker.  Ping was removed from the counter.
 
Anyway, by then it was time to move on, I'm sure.  Greener pastures, and
all that.
 
Later, he somehow climbed the pantry shelves, and was found swinging in
the open-air basket that I keep the potatos in.  He was removed, but not
before he spilled half a pound of fettuccini noodles onto the floor,
right next to the trash can.  They were put INTO the trash can.  Ping
was not, but it did cross my mind, once I looked back at the forbidden
kitchen counter that he had frollicked on earlier, and I realized that he
had gone a-digging in a potted hyacinth up there, flinging dirt into both
the bristles of my hairbrush, and into a stack of clean (formerly clean)
dishes standing on the end of the counter.
 
Ping was put away for a nap then, as I was tired.
 
I let him out again, because I am a serial idiot, not just an occasional
offender.  This time (how?) he climbed up on the shelves above the washer
and dryer in the bathroom, and started flinging things down onto the
floor.  I didn't hear the plastic wrapped bag of ladies pads go, or the
hand towels, either.  I definitely heard the green plastic traveling
cosmetics box, though.  Yup.  Couldn't miss that one make the five foot
drop to the floor!  At one time it contained two tubes of sunblock, a
box of antibacterial bandaids, several Zomig migraine tablets (to take
migraines away, ferrets give them), some Preparation H ampuoles in shiny
foil, several nail files, an assortment of tiny hotel soaps, several
tampons, an asthma inhaler, a necklace, some allegra tablets, and
Prevacid tablets (they cure stomach pains, ferrets give them), a tube of
lip balm, a really big bottle of asprin, some Q-tips, pony-tail holders
in a rainbow of colors, and a few soapy coins.  Yup, it made one hell of
a noise when it all smacked the linoleum!  I walked, not ran to the
bathroom, (what was the point?  I knew what had happened.) and there was
Ping, up on the shelf, a big "Kowabunga, Dude!" grin lighting up his
kisser.
 
Oh, did I neglect to mention that he had at some point knocked over the
bathroom wastebasket, and pooped on the floor?  That had to have happened
BEFORE he threw the traveling cosmetics box, as I gave him no opportunity
to do it after.
 
I was, I suppose , unusually tired then, as Ping was put away for an
unusually long nap.
 
But eventually, I let him out.
 
He returned to the pantry shelves.  This time, a mystery was solved, one
I had almost forgotten about.  Where, oh where, had the rubber baby
bottle nipple that I found on the middle of the living room floor this
morning come from?  I puzzled over it for several minutes, but finally
reasoned that it must be an artifact left over from the time when my
little nephew, Alexander, still drank from bottles.  He is just a few
weeks short from being two, now.  I figured that Switch or Lily must have
snatched then stashed it, and Ping had found it in one of their stashes.
 
WRONG!
 
Ping was up in the pantry, digging in a ziplock bag I had filled with
obsolete baby bottle bits and put aside for my mother in law's church
Mission to give to the poor in the Dominican Republic.  Well, I don't
think they want them any more.  Not now that Ping has chewed ALL of the
nipples.  Nobody is that poor.  Nobody.
 
At this point I must emphasize, lest anyone think otherwise, we *love*
Ping.  We are just amazed by him.
 
Alexandra in MA
[Posted in FML issue 4863]