Hello
 
Last night I had one of the worst experiences of my life.  One of my
ferrets died.  His name was Josh and he was a year and a half years old.
 
Yesterday afternoon Josh was in a very playful mood.  I was sitting on my
couch reading a newspaper.  I saw him drag a plastic bag full of things
under the couch.  So I got up, flipped over the couch and saw him with the
bag.  I took the bag from him and threw it aside.  Then I flipped the couch
back over not realizing that he was still under there.  I smashed him.  I
smashed his poor head in.  But when I set the couch down, I did not know
that I smashed him.  He did not cry or yell out anything at all.  The
couch was so heavy that it killed him right away.  He was in no pain at
all.  It happened too quickly.  When I set the couch down, I did not know
what happened, so I went on with what I was doing, which was reading the
newspaper.
 
Then about 3 hours later I kneeled down to pick up some dead leaves of a
plant near the same couch.  Then I saw something.  I did not know what it
was at first.  Then as I looked closer I realized that it was his nose
peeking out.  I thought that he was just playing so I touched his nose but
there was no movement.  Then I realized how very tight the spot was and
that he was dead.  I was in a state of panic and did not know what to do.
I just stood there for a few moments saying, "Oh my God, I killed my own
ferret." Then it seemed like hours later I lifted up the couch and sure
enough, there he was lying there with his whole head and neck smashed.  He
had been dead a very long time because he was so cold and so very hard.  I
knew he was gone.
 
I have a very strong love and a strong friendship for all animals.  I kept
on thinking that night, how did this happen?  What was I thinking when I
set that couch down?  I very much loved and adored that ferret, how could
I do such a thing?  For a person that loves animals as much as I do, you
would think that I would know to be more careful, that I would have used my
head.  I still blame myself.  If I would have just let him play, like all
ferrets love to do, this would never have happened.  We were so very close,
how could this happen?  How could I be so careless?
 
Josh was a very playful and very loving ferret.  He loved his little ferret
friend Joe.  They were best buds and did everything together.  Now I don't
know what Joe will do.  He lost his best friend.  After a few hours after I
knew that Josh died, all Joe did was run around the whole house looking for
his brother.  For the first time in his life, he went to bed alone that
night.  Josh loved his life and did not want to die.  He was always a very
happy ferret.  He died at a very young age.  He loved his owner and his
owner loved him.  Josh was the most happiest ferret I have ever had the
pleasure of meeting.
 
The message I am trying to share to all of you is watch closely and
supervise your ferrets when they are out free of their cage.  You may not
realize how many little things could actually kill the ferret or seriously
hurt it.  It is very important to ferret-proof your home.  Now I know that.
Now I know that letting my ferret go under the couch is a very bad thing.
You could never know if he is under there.  You could go and want to clean
under there and not even know he's there.  The next thing you know is you
could find your ferret dead.  Watch and supervise your ferrets.  Always
expect the unexpected.  Some people say that things like this could never
happen to them, well, that's what I thought too.  I thought about that
everyday.  That is why I did not do a great job of ferret-proofing my home.
Watch them closely, supervise them and do the most important thing, love
them.
 
We love you Josh and please forgive me for what I did.
Sincerely,
Shane Joshua and Joe
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[Posted in FML issue 2934]