Ok, a couple of you caught me....I'm not at home; just mailing my stuff from
there.  Actually, I'm off measuring bones in a couple of museums down south,
and should be home soon.
 
I'm a little behind (Don't say it!) in my fml stuff, but I noticed requests
for photos and sounds.  I have mucho of both, so ask and I shall send (I
have a great ferret-whining sound from Tori, and got Bear doing something
best described as "dooking-growling-whining-chirping").  Just wait until I
return in about a week; I get so much mail that the server dumps the older
stuff after the file maxes at a meg.  I've started downloading it to the
harddrive and reading it with word, but its difficult when you are not home
and on long distance rates.
 
Also noticed tea and coffee drinking by ferrets.  The SO (she says I'm the
SOB--Significant Other Bob) is regularly visited by Nosette and Moose who
can't seen to get enough of the stuff.  All she drinks is decaffinated, so
there is no worry there.  Moose loves it so much that he will quit fighting
when he gets a whiff; all you have to do is have it on your breath, and blow
towards him.  Tori and Apollo love soda, but the bubbles drive them crazy.
Its a hoot to see them go for it, then back away snorting and shaking their
heads.
 
I was asked why ferrets seem to shed all the time; somewhere at sometime a
ferret is always shedding.  The answer is quite simple; ferrets are slaves
to photoperiods.  In biological organisms, photoperiods refer to the length
of sunlight versus dark the organism is exposed to, and it can regulated
gobs of functions.  In ferrets, a few of the many things regulated by
photoperiods include shedding, deposition of fat, reproductive cycles,
growth rates, sleep cycles (and amount of sleep), and even the desire to eat.
 
Off the top of my head, (since I'm not at home, I can't check the book) I
can't say what the exact ratio of light-to-dark is that regulates the
onset of shedding, but I would assume it would be close to 12hrs light/12
hours dark.  That is a common ratio for the onset of many physiological
changes because it corresponds to the spring and autumm equinox when the
daylight periods match the nighttime periods, and weather starts to get
warmer/colder.
 
One of the reasons I put my ferrets to bed is to get them out of the light
so their photoperiods are as equal as possible to the outside.  Because they
are up at dark so I can enjoy them, they get to sleep in a dark room until
the time period equals the outdoor dark period.
 
I have noticed all my ferrets now shed at the same time, have similar
activity periods, and have far less illnesses (yes, photoperiodism has been
linked to immunoresponse in ferrets and many other mammals) than expected.
They are not as grumpy, and they play alot more.  If you want some
references, just wait a week and e-mail.
 
Digging: Ferrets dig because it is as natural for them to dig as it is for
us to speak.  The only way to stop some ferrets from digging to to trade
them in for a parrot.  Just a couple of thoughts.  Moose taught me a valuabe
lesson when he kept digging at a closet door, actually ruining the carpet at
the door corner (ruin is the wrong word; it would have to still be there to
be ruined).  I noticed (finally) that he only dug when he wanted to play,
and was being ignored.  Each time he was ignored, he ran to the door and
dug, and a big 'ol human picked him up to "distract" him.  He got what he
wanted.  These guys are too smart; see if its happening to you.
 
Second, give them something to dig in.  I fill one of those hard plastic
toddler pools (they look like a big bowl with a molded-in slide) with a
mixture of damp sand/dirt and gravel to a depth of about 8 inches and let
them at it.  We usually do this on the weekend, when we clean the house and
don't want the little beasties underfoot.  and its usually done in the
basement or on the back porch (depending on the weather) Once I set it up, I
leave it there until I need the room for other purposes), but its fairly
easy to clean up if you have to limit its "uptime".
 
Take it from me; this they love. Each one becomes an instant dirt-snake
as they tunnel and burrow and roll and snort and dig and drool over the
gobs of dirt under their fingernails. The only problem is I love to watch
them so much, I can't get any cleaning done....well, maybe thats not so
bad after all....
 
Bob and the 13 Dirt Devils
[Posted in FML issue 1511]