We just received this report from June and Storm "Ferret Wise" Ledoux.  We
thought the FML readership would enjoy it -- so we are sharing it!  This
and many other articles will be in the upcoming holiday Ferret Wise
"Frolic" newsletter.
 
(About the authors - June and Storm are a pair of shelter elders who--
arrived at Ferret Wise at age 3 1/2-- they remained passed over by many
looking for a younger "kid".  June was not feeling well-- she had an
enlarged abdomen-- was lethargic -- Storm the younger by 3 months,
developed some nasty cysts on her rectum.  A wonderful foster sponsor paid
for Storm's surgery-- the shelter covered pathology which told us they were
benign!!  YEAH!  Eventually ( many months later) we found a wonderful
person who was interested in providing a loving environment for a hospice
or two-- with that-- we sent June off-- surgery for splenectomy and a left
adrenal removal--!!  She recovered rapidly-- and as soon as the sutures
were out-- off the two gals went.  That was more than a year ago-- both
are age 6v years now.  AND they are younger and more vibrant than ever.
Definitely a reflection of the loving home environment they now share.
Thanks to hospice Mom Marilyn, and to those who support our hospice /
foster program which allows us to do some basic surgeries and supply
nutritional supplements to our kids.
 
Happy Holidays from
the staff and ferrets of Ferret Wise
 
Please stop by and visit us at-
 
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~crassi/index.html
 
Ferret Wise is a 501cx3 (tax exempt) organization.
 
Dear Shelter Mom,
Happy, happy, Thanksgiving.  We are sooooo excited.  This year, WE DID
THANKSGIVING !! We can hardly wait to tell you.
 
Thanksgiving day, Foster Mom got up extra early, course, we were sleeping
with one eye open so we didn't miss a thing.  She put on the coffee, and
took something called "The Bird" out of the cold box.  Beethoven went out
for his run, and he came back and told us about her new centerpiece.  It
was one of those dried things she likes.
 
When our turn came, we checked it out.  It was all seed pods and things
that crinkle when you touch them.  But, Foster Mom missed the best part.
If you stick your head way in the crinkly things, there are acorns and
little fancy corn on the cobs hiding there.  Foster Mom was missing the
good stuff, soooo, we held a council, and decided to pull them out so she
could enjoy them too.
 
When she came into the room and saw what we did, she just said Uh oh.
Then she let all the air out of her chest.  We guess she was upset, but
she didn't say anything.  We jumped up on the window sill and began to
make nose print pictures for her.  She likes those.
 
While we were painting, she scooped the whole mess up and threw it out the
door onto the lawn.  Now here is the part where we shine.  While we were
doing our pictures on the window, a squirrel came and took an acorn.  Then
another one came.  Chick A. Dee came, and when he tasted the little corn,
he called all his friends.  We were so excited.  Foster Mom came over to
look at our pictures, and she saw all the friends in the yard, eating the
corn and acorns, and the other seeds.
 
She said her new word for the day, Uh oh again.  Then she said to us, "They
must be hungry," and she went up to the barn.  She left us in charge of the
dinner.  We watched "The Bird" to see that he stayed in the oven, and the
potatoes and squash kept doing what they do in the pots.  We were busy.
 
As we watched, Foster Mom came down to the lawn with a big pail with
cracked corn in it, and she threw it on the lawn.  The front yard burst
into action.  The whole place was a flutter and a twitter.  Friends came
from everywhere.  The squirrels brought their relatives, the Blue Jay came,
(he's awful noisy) and some very small fellers, sparrows I think.  Chick
was there with his gang, and some friends who were just passing by.
Everyone ate and ate and ate.  After awhile, they all went home to their
nests.  Foster Mom was smiling.  She picked us up and gave us a kiss on
the top of our heads, right between our ears.  When she does that, we know
she loves us, no matter what we do.
 
She put us in our house, and we went to bed.  We were tired.  We got in
our hammock and rolled onto our backs and put our tired feet in the air,
all eight of them.  Thanksgiving is hard work, but our new friends are
full and happy tonight, and isn't that what its all about?
 
Oh, about the centerpiece, when The Bird finally broke out of the oven, he
made a beeline for the center of the table, so there would not have been
room for the two of them anyway.
 
Love, hugs, and Ferret kisses to everyone in the shelter, and bless you
Shelter Mom for the work you do and just for being there for us ferrets.
 
Love from June and Storm
 
and "mom" who helped us write this!
[Posted in FML issue 2507]