Part two of three:
 
Yesterday, I talked about how Gus came into our life and ended by telling
about how much he loved to ride in the car with me.  He especially loved
being there really early in the morning when it was still dark, no other
cars, and he could be out of his carry cage to see the passing street
lights which must have seemed like Star Trek to him as they moved across
the windshield..
 
Last Saturday was an especially magical time with a clear sky, a full
moon, and many stars.  I was scheduled to meet a helper at five, was
running a bit late and upon arrival ran right in without bothering to
check on Gus, who by that time in the ride is usually asleep in my
jacket on the back floor, next to his litter box.
 
Around 9:00, I was finishing up and went out to check on him.  Judging by
the food and water dishes, as well as the lack of poop, Gus hadn't been
there for quite a while; nor had I remembered him at the door as is his
usual habit when I'm getting some tools out.  I also discovered that he
had dragged my digital camera out toward the back of the car.  Then I
saw that one of the back wing windows which should ALWAYS be closed, had
somehow been left open about half an inch.  Oh Oh!!
 
Traffic by that time traffic was pretty impossible, but during the day
and then again next morning, I drove with a squeaky toy each way, along
the entire 14 mile route stopping to investigate several road kills as I
went.  I also called the dog officers and animal Shelters in three towns;
but no sign of Gus.
 
Ronnie DiComo offered lots of suggestions.  At her urging I dug up an old
picture of Gus, made it part of a Lost Ferret poster, and printed out
150+ copies.  These were stapled to nearly every tree and telephone pole
along both sides of the entire route and we sat back and waited.  Ronnie
posted a missing ferret report to the FML and other lists, and many
people (thank you all) offered their prayers and support.
 
Soon we had our first call.  A 'ferret' was thought to have been spotted
in a women's garage on a new street, a little more than a quarter of a
mile from where Gus could have 'bailed out' into enemy territory.  She
was very helpful and was pretty sure from his picture, that it was Gus
she had seen.  We left her the carry cage with some food and she put out
a dish of water.  Ronnie and I also spent several hours before work with
squeaker toys covering the entire area, and I talked to people and gave
away another fifty flyers later on that day.
 
The unfortunate part of the story though, was that the street is being
extended into some very fine forest and meadow land and they are building
some very large 'trophy' homes there.  A small pond (which was once part
of a farm) is located right behind property where Gus was seen, and all
around it were the tracks of deer as well as other animals such as
perhaps raccoons, fox and coyotes.  Several people mentioned seeing hawks
hunting in the area, and the surveyors and heavy equipment operators
mentioned a Fisher Cat that they had seen.  This was not good news!
See: http://home.mcn.net/~wtu/fisher.html
I put some paper that Gus had pooped on, near the cage and we continued
our vigil.
 
Continued tomorrow:
[Posted in FML issue 4271]