[I took the liberty of running this through nroff because the original
was far beyond 80 columns wide - please be careful!]
 
Our three house weasels are starting to become much  more  active
now that Spring is approaching. Nothing is safe from Meltdown who
is a real climber (of the ferrets we've had over the years,  only
two  have  been  serious  climbers). It is not unusual for her to
climb a person and perch on their head.
 
The quality of musk from the small glands behind their ears seems
to  change  in  Spring.   All of them are "sneezing" to bring the
stuff up (it took us a long time  to  figure  out  what  sneezing
really  means  to mustelids). Our oldest ferret, Fritter, has al-
ways had poor quality ear musk  so  Sukie  regularly  supplements
Frit's  musk  with perfume.  The other ferrets are in awe of Frit
for about a day after this happens. We find that they  will  dom-
inate  her  if this isn't done regularly. (Frit actually will beg
for perfume every few days. She'll run into the room where it  is
kept if you mention the word and will point to where it is kept).
 
We've been supplementing their diets with bitches milk supplement
for  almost  a  year  now  with  excellent results. Hjalmar has a
wonderful coat - probably the best he's had - this  year  despite
the  fact  that  he's  nearly 5 years old (the last coat that was
this nice was when he was two). The only negative side effect  is
that you have to trim their nails every two weeks. We are now ex-
pert at trimming ferret claws - the trick is to  give  them  some
food treat they enjoy so much that they don't realize what is go-
ing on with their paws.
 
Some folks have talked about ferret cages. We have a ferret  room
(15'  x 12') where they have semi-supervised access and a 3' x 3'
x 3' small animal cage where they den or live when we  are  away.
They naturally will go into the cage to sleep, but they don't en-
joy being confined in it when they have lots of energy. It  would
be  very difficult to ferret-proof our condo, so they are allowed
out of the room only when closely supervised. It is  amazing  how
much trouble they can find in a short amount of time.
 
Does anyone know the status of  the  California  ferret  restric-
tions?  I understand they are now under review, but haven't heard
anything in a few months. Is there any news on an approved rabies
vaccine yet?
 
happy weaseling ...
 
Steve and Sukie Crandall along with Fritter, Hjalmar and Meltdown
                                                                          
[Posted in FML 0099]