Hi Ya Everyone:
 
Well just when you think nothing else can go wrong and the house is totally
ferret proofed......along comes Footsie.
 
I let my two ferrets Footsie and Oakley free roam my house.  They have
access to every room except the basement and the office although they are
allowed access to the office with supervision.  I have ferret proofed the
house and then done it again when Footsie found something new to get into
and then again and again and again.  Well, just when I thought there was
no way my little 7 month old super charged hyper brat of a ferret could
possibly get into any more trouble, she once again shows me that I am a
dummy for letting down my guard!
 
I have a split level house and when you come up the stairs (10 stairs) you
reach a landing and to your right is the living room  When you turn left
you go up another 6 stairs and you reach another landing and turn right to
go down the hall.  As a result you can sit in the living room and see the
upstairs landing and hallway.  My ferrets are aware that the landing is a
height and have looked over but do not walk along the edge.  I have never
worried before that anything would happen because I knew they were aware of
the drop.  Dumb Dumb Dumb.  The other night the two of them were playing
and wrestling in the upstairs hallway and just as I glanced over at them
Footsie "pushed" Oakley through the rails and over the edge.  It is about a
10 foot drop to carpeted stairs.
 
I went running down the stairs with my heart in my throat as Footsie peered
over the edge where Oakley had gone down.  Oakley was standing on the second
stair from the bottom looking a tad stunned.  I scooped him up and brought
him into the living room in my arms and placed him on the floor to see if he
could walk and to see if he was dizzy etc.  Oakley immediatly attacked me
and leaped at my legs and bit them and then backed up all puffed up.  This
is an indication from him that he wants to play Chase the Human.  Or maybe
he thought it was my fault he fell.  (which it is)
 
In the end, Oakley is fine.  No broken bones, no internal bleeding.  I, on
the other hand, am still shaking!  There are now secured boards across these
ledges so that in the event of anymore wrestling or pushing my ferrets will
come up against the boards.  I still cannot believe that I did not recognize
this as a potential danger.
 
Fuzzie Hugs to all,
Cindy Smith
The Terrible Tag-Team Twosome
Footsie (but I just wanted to see if Oakley could fly)
Oakley (grrrrrrrr little brat)
[Posted in FML issue 2370]