I also have an amusing story about leaving my ferret for vacation.  This
summer Dave and I went on a weeks vacation to Colorado.  I have a friend
that comes to the house and services their cage and lets them out to play a
few times when we go away.  This is only the second vacation we've been on
that she has done this for us and I try to leave her a list of things not to
forget.  Well, their cage door has a really wimpy fastener that they have
long since overcome so I have to secure the door by threading a coathanger
through the bars.  This has to be done at the right place too or they can
defeat it.  Anyway, my friend came over and did all the things that needed
to be done and locked them all back in the cage.  The next time she came
over, she walked into a mess.  Every plant in the house had been uprooted
and there was nothing left on any of the tables.  After she got over the
shock and reallized that this was the work of a ferret, she went to the cage
and to her suprise, they were all sleeping peacfully in the cage with the
door secured as she had left it.  Completely baffled, she decided to leave
the room and close the door leaving a small crack through which she could
watch.  Not even a minute went by before one of the little beasties
demonstrated their Houdini teachnique.  She didn't get the coathanger in
quite the right spot and they could shift the door enough to through both
directions.  She just couldn't get over that they broke back in to the cage
when they were done tearing up the place.  Happy ferreting,
 
CHERYL
[Posted in FML issue 1683]