Any animal loose in the car is bad. Why?

1. In accident, anything not secured will get hurt.
2. Even animals in carriers get hurt by being thrown in the carrier,
and when the carrier is not secure. Having an animal in a carrier
with lots of padding is key. Even having the carrier sideway (I know
everyone likes to look back at their little guy) will help with that
issue of padding, instead of being ejected forward toward the grill. I
have seen what cats look like after crashes. Thankfully I have never
seen what a ferret looks like after one.
3. In many cars, there is little barrier between the dash and the
"interesting" parts, as your ferret would put it. If you don't believe
me, poke your head underneath where your feet go. Often there are
holes, open spaces, slots, and even cables down there.
4. Unpredictable car behavior: once while driving with my flying
squirrel in the car, he got out and jumped on my face. Yes, this
probably won't happen with a ferret, but imagine a ferret tickling
you while driving, or some other behavior.
5. As another mentioned, the danger of being under pedals is too much.
Or even just dragging items around and then something rolls under the
pedal when you aren't aware.
6. Getting loose. If you do have a crash, then where is your ferret?
You don't know. If there is no crash, you have to locate your ferret
before exiting the vehicle. What if you can't find him? What if he
slips out? Or did before, at that last rest stop, where you swore he
was sleeping in his hammock and you didn't see him leave? Again, plenty
of ferrets are lost every year - and at least a few by truckers, and
others who are traveling.

I went across the country for 5 days - and all of my guys lived in
carriers. You know the little airport ones, where they can't even stand
up in them? I had a pair in one, one in another, and then 9 in a medium
cat carrier. That was all we had room for in the cab with us (two cats
in a single carrier as well). There was no water except when we stopped
for gas, when I would fill a Dixie cup as much as they wanted to drink
up that was twist tied to the carriers. Food was available the same
way. Was it fun? No. But they realize they can't get out after a while,
and just sleep. The only time they had out was at the hotels at night,
and smuggling them in, with 2 cats, wasn't a lot of fun either. But we
did it. There are ferrets that come in to shelters who have never been
outside of a tiny cage in their entire lives. Don't feel bad about
short spans of time. You know you're not doing it forever, even if
your ferret thinks so.

Also realize that having 9 ferrets in a medium cat carrier, when they
all get in the hammock, it gets warm. Even when there are plenty of
ventilation holes. We had to make sure they weren't overheating the
entire trip...we never thought of that. It was nothing drastic but
something to look out for if you have a large group of fuzzies.

Laryssa

[Posted in FML 6069]