Just finished getting all 3 cages vaccumed and all the food and water
bottles filled....and then re-vaccuming after convincing myself that 'they'
couldn't possibly get to a tray full of treats/baking soda etc etc that I
set down whilst I stepped out of the room to refill the Hedgehogs' food
and water bottle!
 
Anyway, we use a little (5 gallon) Shop-Vac to clean up here in the ferrets
room, and tonite as I had the Shop-Vac in the room, but not yet using it,
as I was changing the corner newspapers....I had the hose off the vac (this
is important) I heard my wife shout that she'd just seen Tiki (our 1 year
old albino sprite) crawl into the Shop-Vac!  Amazing, as Tiki is the most
terrified of all our 10!  We always make sure she is in a cage and has a
place to hide from the 'Evil Mr Vacumn'  Thankfully my wife saw this and I
didn't start to use it with her inside!!!  That wouldn't have helped her
psyche at all I'm sure!!!  So, I can't be the only Shop-Vac user on the
FML, or maybe I'm the last one to find out the danger....also, little
albinos don't come out of Shop-Vacs as albinos!
 
We had a minor escape very early Sunday am (4-5am) apparently due to an
operator error in locking one of the cage doors!  So, here's 3 of us
attempting to discover how many are missing (and since the cages have sleep
boxes and sleep sacks etc, it required opening doors and feeling around,
which got the non-escapees all excited and further complicated the head
count!) and who exactly was loose!  3 of the 10 were loose....Jester made
it the furthest (basement bedroom) Lily was in the kitchen (a white streak
amongst the appliances in the early morning light) and Clover was merrily
digging thru a sack of used Guinea Pig litter that had not gotten outside
the nite before (unfortunately!)
 
We use wood pellets for litter, and during cage cleaning tonite, I found
not only the usual pieces of TF stashed beneath the sleepers, but wood
pellets too!  What does this mean?  Must I now watch that they don't get
matches and start little campfires?  Is this another sign of the coming
winter?  This is the 1st winter with 8 of ours, and the biggest change has
been in our sable male Chuckles...he has gotten so soft and fluffy!  His
nickname now is Mr Softy..
 
For our 'Snorkle Bin' we use a 30 gallon Rubbermaid type container
35"x20"x17" with several inches of corncob litter.  Ours just go crazy in
it!  We often come home from work and find 7-8 of them all nestled down it
sound asleep.  We've noticed that if we fail to remove the lid, and it's
17" high, it will be off, so it must be a concerted group effort to get it
open...but get it open, they do!
 
Last week, I had Chuckles harnessed up, and he went shopping with me.  We
went to Office Depot (twice) and Future Shop and Big R, and everyone we
met was curious and friendly...no problems.  Daughter took Jester to the
video store and convenience mart, and a good time was had by all.  I took
Chuckles and Rose down to Petco to see the baby ferrets, but Chuckles was
interested only when I had him over by the mouse/rat cages....too
interested, so we stood by the doorway and people watched.  As I was
extolling his virtues to a not totally unfamiliar lady who was petting him,
he apparently decided he'd had enough, and nipped (not bite!), so that took
us out to the car and away from any potential problems!  Thought maybe he
needed bathroom break...but asphalt is not wood pellets nor newspaper,
which is where he immediately ran (and did his duty) as we arrived home!!
 
OK, back to the lurk mode now....
From the unknown Eastern side of Washington State
Richard Deb and the 10 Yakimaniacs
Riki Tiki Tavi Chuckles Pansy Clover Rose Jester Joker Lily
[Posted in FML issue 2477]