I meant to get this out sooner, but sleep deprivation took it's toll.
 
The Great Lakes Ferret Association's Second Ferret Fun Match at Petsmart in
Grand Rapids, Michigan, was a great success.  We had a lot of new faces and
over 20 ferrets participating in games for 3 hours.  There were more ferrets
on the sidelines snoozing (er, ah, coaching the others on) The winners are:
Cup Tip - Cody (owned by Brad White)
Tube Race - Tracie (owned by Kim VanderLaan)
Bag Escape - Dexter (owned by Kim VanderLaan)
Little Beggars - Niles (owned by June Wolf)
Leash Run - Cody (owned by Brad White)
 
Dr. Jennifer Petrovich, who is also a GLFA member, did a great job
interacting with ferrets and their owners during the Pet Check.  The
highlight for me was Brad White's trio who could all roll over on command.
I honestly didn't think it could be done, but now that I've seen it, I've
been working with Beau & Nilla.
 
Special thanks to all the fuzzies: Brittany, Ashley, Beast, Dodger, Brie,
Chase, Cody, Taz, Casper, Farley, Ichabod, Tiara, Dexter, Tracie, Katie Brie,
Corey, Clarice, Bubba, Smokey, Nikki, Niles, Trevor, Beau & Nilla.  (if I'm
leaving anyone out, I apologize)
 
As soon as the Fun Match was over, people wanted to know when we were going
to do it again.  Well, let's see...... the GLFA Picnic/Meeting is July 19,
the Education Committee is meeting some time soon after (hopefully July 26
for all of you Ed Committee members out there), then it's time to gear up
for the October 24 GLFA Show in Lansing.  I don't know, but I know it will
definitely be at Petsmart.  Jim Steuers and his staff have been wonderful
to us.
 
On a different note, it's been a great summer so far for Beau, Nilla and I
(and it's not even "summer" yet).  We did an 8-minute segment on
ferrets/GLFA for a northeast Michigan TV station that was followed by an
8-minute segment by a local pet store owner.  Beau & Nilla hit the beach for
the first time.  Beau snorkled in the sand and played with the waves of Lake
Huron while Nilla decided to be a shoulder ferret.  She didn't want to have
any part of it.  She really doesn't like to leave the apartment.
 
A couple of weeks ago Beau & Nilla did Festival '98 in GR (It's actually a
food fest. The people in GR love to eat and go to church and not necessarily
in that order) and hobnobbed with the public.  They were great little
ambassadors.
 
On the homefront, I've ferret-proofed my deck (I live in a second floor
apartment) with chicken wire and gave them a sandbox to play in so they're
out there every morning and every evening.  Again, Beau loved it the first
time out.  He claimed the sandbox and Nilla's first reaction was to poop in
it and hop out.  The look on Beau's face was to say "Mom!!!!!  Look what she
did to my sandbox!!!!!  Mom!!!!!!  Too funny.  FYI: he's my "good boy" and
she's my "Tasmanian Devil".
 
Our newest toy is the little cat toy deal with the stick, string and a
little shuttlecock on the end.  Funny, at the pet store, as a "cat toy" it
was $6 and as a "ferret toy" it was $8............hmmmmmmm.
 
And, of course, our latest venture is to learn how to roll over.  That will
probably take the rest of the summer.  Good thing I stocked up on ferret
treats when they were on sale last week.
 
Take care.
Dee
Beau & Nilla
[Posted in FML issue 2343]