Hi fellow ferret-philes!
 
For Your Consideration
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I had this thought after I found out that there are several FMLers that
have published or will publish in the near future.  Here is a golden
opportunity to accomplish several things:
 
 --Support our artists (I think I'm going to enjoy being a "patron of
   the arts")
 --Present ferrets in the best possible light;
 --Promote understanding of ferrets;
 --Advocate responsible ferret/pet ownership; and
 --Contribute to your local community.
 
Whenever the budget permits, when you buy a book or manual, get an extra one
and DONATE it to your local/favorite LIBRARY.  You might want to ask how you
can get your name put on a bookplate for a "contributed by" sort of thing.
 
FERRET GAMES - the Ferret Alphabet
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Note: This fritter game is done carefully & does NO harm.  If one of the
fritters protests or hates it, we don't do it with him/her anymore.  For
instance, Isis is now a little old lady and does not deign to participate
any longer, she now lends her support in more sedate ways.
 
The fritters show off their mental acuity in front of guests.  This game is
particularly useful when guests aren't familiar with or are frightened by
fritters.  Hold up your fritter so everyone can see--GENTLY--show your
guests how the fritter can form the letters of the alphabet.  All ferrets
know the letters: C, J, O, U and are particularly good at I.  The guests are
amazed at how flexible they are & how much they love to be handled.
(Shhhhh.  I never told the fritters this: but I know they're just humoring
me.) They really don't need us to shape these letters, they form them by
themselves each & every day.  They're so good at it they model them while
they sleep.
 
Then when they have shown their skills and are back on the floor, they top
off their performance by dancing around like they have springs-on-feet and
coming back for more (the little hams).  They bask in the applause & have
all been pronounced unbelievably cute, sweet, gentle, funny and well
learned.  (NO, we NEVER let the guests do the ferret alphabet--NEVER, NEVER,
NEVER!!!!!) **
 
Rating:
Guests say "A-OK!", "We love it!", "Good way to learn your abc's." Fritters
say "medium, we like to be held & adored but, we gotta wait to celebrate
until we're back on the floor"
 
** Tee hee.  That does sound funny.  I meant, using our fritters.  I
suddenly got this image of me standing there yelling "no, no, stop that!",
while my guests are writhing around on the floor trying to shape themselves
into various letters, and the fritters are looking on from the sidelines
chuckling & celebrating like crazy.
 
Christel ([log in to unmask])
Chaquita, Isis, Nin~a, Peanut, Simon & Tiki (the Fritters)
Elritze & Wilk (the Canine Peace Patrol)
Zauber & Qwilla (the Feline Purr Patrol)
& U.B. (the Ungrateful Budgie)
[Posted in FML issue 1739]