Greetings all!  Sadly, unlike Mr. Coder, I was unable to help with the
ferrying of the ferrets, though I did manage to send Joe off with some
super-extra strong Louisiannan coffee...(not Mr. Coder.. the other ferry).
 
Tle warned us all that the ferrets might be hard to rehab.  I am pleased and
happy for Mr. Coder for having no nippers amongst his rescues..  but all
that nippiness seems to have been vested in my ferret.  My hands are
beginning to look like they've gone through a chipper/shredder (ok, a minor
exadderation).
 
Still, he is quite the biter.  When I took him to the vet (the vet could not
or would not give me the Ivermectin without seeing the ferret) the vet
needed to wear welders gloves because the poor little guy was so scared.
 
The critter has bitten me to the point where I am actually afraid to pick
him up.  So, with the advice of Tle..  I got the gloves.  Hopefilly they
will not be necessary for too long, but they definitely are now..  not so
much for his sake, but for mine.  Only with the security of the gloves do I
have the confidence to reach in there regardless of what he does.  I wish it
wasn't necessary... but may it not be so for long.
 
I had a minor brainstorm (VERY minor.. as it is arguable to wether I have a
brain at all) as to how to help my newbie get better.  I placed him in my
other two ferrets cage.  It was really fascinating.  The new ferret was
accepted IMMEDIATELY and TOTALLY!  All three of them are curled up in a
tight ball together, all with a look of contentment, though the newbie has a
surprised-seeming appearance as well.  Well, he will soon discover that his
dark days are past.  I think perhaps part of the problem of my ferrety
biting was that he was SOOOOO bored with being in his smallish cage all day
with nothing to do, that when he was let out, he really REALLY did not want
to go back, and so bit the he** out of me when I reached for him for any
reason.  He simply did not want to be put back in the cage.
 
Now that he has two cagemates to play with, I think things will get much
better much quicker now.  He actually ambled over and crawled onto my lap
for a second because the others were sleeping there.  Since I placed him in
the cage with the others, he has seemed to become more amenable to contact
with me.... he does not try to bite me as energetically as he did befor, if
at all.
 
I really want to thank Tle for her help.  She has taken some very strange
calls from me when I was feeling hurt from the ferret... (IE: the emotional
anger/anguish when you are trying to help a ferret and he rips into you).
She is a Godsend...
 
I will try to keep everyone updated as to my little guy's progress.  I
cannot name him yet... I must wait until I see what kind of ferret he is
before I can name him.  I am rather superstitious about naming things..
name it wrong, and things go badly.  Find just the right one, and everything
is beautiful.  So I wait until I see the personality buried under this
abused ferrets shell...
 
Thanks to all who helped in the ferret rescue.  The world needs more people
like you in it.
 
    Yours truly,
 
     Bryan Hall
[Posted in FML issue 1728]