To Debbie and whoever else was wondering how to successfully ferret-proof
your couch.
 
IMPOSSIBLE!!  Nothing is totally ferret proof when you have little
determined ferrets in control.
 
Our story has been 99% successful.  We took off the lining of the couch,
and replaced it with our old waterbed mattress.  (The destroyed the
mattress, so instead of throwing it out when we replaced it, we used it
for the couch).  We cut the matress in half, folded it over, and used a
heavy-duty staple gun to attach the vinyl to the couch.  We stapled
leaving MAYBE a half of an inch in between each staple.  They haven't
been able to get UP inside the couch, so after a lengthy conference,
they decided to got DOWN through the couch.  They must have spent the
entire day digging under the cushion on the seat part.  So each couch
now has a cantalope sized hole in the lining under the cushions.  We've
duct taped over the hole, but had to end up super gluing the duct tape
down because they learned how to peel that up.
 
But as for the bottome of the couch, I highly recommend a heavy duty
lining - like vinyl or a thick plastic, doubled.  They haven't bothered
the couch since - from that end at least.
 
Mish
[Posted in FML issue 1239]