Hi everyone!
 
Not to brag, but I have the be-all and end-all solution to ferrets getting
into cabinets!  Move them up 4' off of the floor!  <g> Seriously though, I
put these child safety latches on all of my cabinet doors 3 years ago with
no break-ins!
 
I don't know what they are called, but I will describe them: they are a
spring loaded latch, with a "male" plug screwed to the door, and a "female"
latch consisting of two rollers screwed on the cabinet facing.  When you
close the doors, the male end slides between the rollers which holds the
door shut!  I have a hard time opening my doors now!  I have watched my
ferrets try to get in with no avail.  Best of all, these are available at
most hardware stores for about $1.69 each!
 
A sorta funny story to relate to dogs attacking.... I had my first ferret,
Sable, out for a walk one day on a leash.  She was a very small female,
weighing about 1 pound.  We were happily digging in my flowerbeds when all
of the sudden a VERY LARGE great dane came galloping into the yard and tried
to attack me!  Sable, valiantly leaped to my defense and latched onto the
great danes' nose!  You have to picture this: One moment a very aggressive
barking 120 lb dog and hissing ferret; the next, a yelping howling in
terror, quivering in fear dog with a ferret physically attached to his body!
She was hanging on for dear life while the dog tried to remove her!  I
grabbed Sable by her scruff and removed her from the dog.  To my surprise,
there was a piece of the dog's nose in her mouth!  The dogs owner now comes
running up, yelling at me about my "vicious" ferret!  He told me he was
going to call animal control and sue me.  I said, "fine, and don't forget to
tell them how your dog was running at large and trespassed on my private
property and attempted to attack me and my ferret was merely defending her
owner and her property." That shut him up on the spot!  The moral to this
story was: "size is not always an issue when defending your turf.  Nowadays
I use more conventional ways of defending myself when walking my ferrets:
Pepper gas and my 10 lb ankle weights!
 
Happy ferreting, folks!
Lisa
[Posted in FML issue 1742]