>From:    "Denise L. Voskuil" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Cautionary tale: ferret falling
 
>I went into the kitchen to get something out of the fridge, and having both
>hands off him, he unexpectedly chose that moment to quickly leap off of my
>shoulder.  I missed seeing him on the way down, but he evidently struck
>something, and hit the floor, writhing and hissing.
 
Well, Felix and I can top all stories re: falling ferrets.
 
Felix and I were at Golden Gate park.  I've had minor problems with him
climbing smaller-size trees...his general pattern was to go as far out on a
branch mebbe 10 feet up and fall while trying to turn around...being able to
reach over 8 feet in the air personally, the short drop to my hand was
nothing to worry about.
 
There was this one huge pine tree about 50 feet tall (at least) that was
leaning over at a weird 15degree angle, with all the branches pointing one
way from constant wind in one direction, a Cypress.  Absolutely dead
straight trunk, impossible for a human to climb.
 
You guessed it.  The little wiggle clambered up before I could grab him.  He
was over 40 feet off the ground before finding the first branch.
 
So not only does he head out on the branch, he stops and does the typical
clumsy turn-around right over a large bush preventing me from getting
right under him.  I'm freaking out, of course, hoping he'll head back
successfully, but noooooo...I see him slip and dangle by one arm.
 
Turns out, when a ferret falls, it goes all flat in midair like a
pathetic immitation of a flying squirrel.  Until his hindquarters hit some
leaves and light branches and he started an end-for-end tumble, that is.  I
leaned *way* out, and while *I* was falling over, made a spectacular
one-handed "NFL Highlights Style" catch right across his chest.
 
Other than being a bit calmer for less than a minute, he was fine...played
in the grass some more.
 
But he's never gone up a tree since!
[Posted in FML issue 1612]