THE STORY:
Darn those critters!  Low on sleep, I hauled my butt into bed at 2:30am,
knowing I had to be up by 6am for work AGAIN.  I crept slowly into my room,
not disturbing a single fert of three.  I fed the three fishtanks, put a
handful of Iams in the dish, and slid into bed.  Haha, I thought, no one
woke up and started making a ruckus.
 
Suddenly, I had the distinct feeling that something was alive under my head,
under my pillow, egads, IN my boxspring.  Coaxing them out with Ferretone, I
noticed a new hole in the boxspring.  Usually they would go after the
corners, so I have those taped up with a weird plastic tape I found that is
like the silver stuff but more rubbery and harder to get a corner up on.
I'm all out of it, so I stacked a bunch of books strategically between two
table legs and my boxspring (which sits flat on the floor, btw) and thought,
"Haha Sammy- I took care of THAT idea!" My head hit the pillow at 3am, and I
passed out in seconds.  My alarm clock rang at what seemed to be only
minutes later.  Usually all three of them wake up at the horrendous noise
too, knowing that it is time for a quick 45 minute run around before I leave
for work.  This time, no one was out.  I checked the bookstack.  Right next
to the stack, was a NEW HOLE!  I couldn't get Sammy or Jerry to come out.
They were proud of their tunneling efforts, but I won't have ferrets
sleeping between springs.  So I lift up the whole mattress and all, get the
two out from behind the lining.  While sliding my bed back into place, I
pulled several muscles in my leg and groin.  I turned around and looked at
their cage (they get caged when I move any big furniture of course)- and
Sammy actually had this spiteful "screw you" stance, with his head lowered
yet still looking at me.  I gotta admit, I had all these feelings of
nastiness befalling them-- revenge for my poor sleeping quarters and the
painful throbbing of my tendons.  It isn't easy for a single guy to try to
convince himself that anyone would want to spend the night in THAT room.  =)
 
THE QUESTIONS:
Anyways, I have a question that is more mustelid related than ferret
related, but I am interested in this rumor I heard about people owning pet
skunks.  They were descented, but I hear that they make wonderful pets-
being of superior intelligence to most domestic animals (as we all know
mustelids are, heh heh).  Does anyone have information on this?  Do people
actually raise skunks for pet ownership, or are the instances of people
owning skunks as domestic partners mostly consist of illegal capture and/or
special case rescues from live traps and such?  The rumor I hear is that
they are litter-box trainable, and become very loyal to their owners.
 
Secondly, I hear that European polecats will "war dance" in front of rabbits
and other prey just before striking at the throat.  The prey in question is
somewhat mystified by the dance and the strike is received off-guard.  Is
there truth to this, or should I stop spreading bad rumors now?  I could be
all full of them.  My mind has no bibliography.
 
Thanks for the list everyone.  Finally, some good mail.
Mark, 3 ferrets, 4 fishtanks, a green iguana, white pidgeon, boa, rat, cat
and two roomates...
 ___________________________________
| Mark A. Pendl                     |
| Bear of Very Little Brain         |
| [log in to unmask]                  |
| http://www.uwm.edu/~spam          |
| In the heart of Maricopa Province |
 \_________________________________/
[Posted in FML issue 2134]