Yesterday a poster spoke of her inability to bond with a new ferret after
three days...
 
This is not unusual, nor is it taboo to talk about.  The truth is that
there will not be love at first sight for every single ferret that comes
into your home, even if you are the one that picks it out of a litter.
 
In my home, I have had my fair share of ferrets come and go.  It's funny
how with some ferrets there does seem to be something magic that happens
and the bonding process starts right away.  Then there are the others, who
for some reason, don't seem to make a dent in your heart deep enough to
feel like love... at first.  There is no set time or even a proper amount
of time for your heart to open up to a new ferret.  Love knows no bounds,
nor does it know what will finally happen that will make the two of you
closer.
 
We have a little girl Mushu, who I bought from a pet store two years ago,
along with her sister Ping, as a potential new buddy for aging Bear.  Mushu
I fell for instantly, but Ping took some time.  It wasn't until I found
that Ping hissed a lot and had a very unpredictable temperament, that my
heart let go and found her uniqueness quite irresistible.
 
Uh-Oh!  was another who I adopted from our ferret shelter.  At first she
became just part of our gang, but soon, she started coming to me and
literally leaping into my arms for protection.  This got my heart going
once again.
 
Akela was adopted from the local Humane Society and at first we were just
happy to get her home.  She was in quarantine initially and this meant that
she was alone for the better part of 20 days.  We did our best to spend
some quality time with her.  Once she was released to the group she kept
to herself most of the time.  Then one day, after scrapping with one of
the others, I picked her up and she started "talking" to me.  My heart
lost its fight again.
 
Now in all of this I am not saying that there was not love involved at all,
because there was.  But this love is the love I carry for all animals.
The deeper love that comes with bonding sometimes takes a little time and
sometimes it is not even a particular event, such as what I have described
as being the turning point for making a connection.
 
Give yourself time and before you know it, it will have already happened.
 
Betty and Her Blur O'Fur Missing Taero
For the Love of Ferrets...
[Posted in FML issue 3167]