I was mildly surprised last night when I found one of mine using a "tool" to
get what he wanted.  Only "mildly" surprised because after a while, nothing
they do totally surprises me.
 
Lowen decided that the cranberry juice my wife left in a glass on the end
table was too good to resist.  He grabbed the edge of the glass and pulled
it over.  Of course it shattered in a thousand pieces.
 
I grabbed Lowen before he could sample any and cleaned up the mess.  The
remains I threw into a kitchen sized trash can that we keep in the shelter
area for litter disposal (in our family room).  The can is about 3 feet +
tall with very smooth sides, and sits between the 6 ft. tall cage and the
TV.
 
Lowen was very upset that I took his "treat" away from him.  He hissed and
hopped then finally went over to check out the trash can.  "Lowen," I told
him," Forget it, you're not getting in there."
 
I turned my back for a second and heard the russle of the plastic liner in
the trash can.  Lowen was half way in already.  I ran over and quickly
pulled him out before he got to the glass in the bottom.  I noticed that the
trash can was very close to the cage.  Thinking I must have moved it when I
threw the glass away, I shoved it right up against the TV, a couple feet
away from the cage.
 
This time I watched.  Lowen glared at me, then got between the trash can and
the TV and pushed the trash can toward the cage.  He kept pushing it until
it rested right against the cage; then ran around the can, up the cage and
over to the top of the trash can.  He was using the cage as a ladder.
 
I thought that was very intelligent, but after reading that a similar thing
was done by another ferret I'm beginning to wonder if the ferrets might not
have their own bulletin board system to communicate new ideas with other
ferrets around the world.  The term "Ferret Mailing List" takes on a whole
new meaning. <G>
 
Dick B.
[Posted in FML issue 1391]