Dear Ferret Folks-
 
Ping is He is no longer the undisputed ferret prince of the household.
Oh, no.  He has met his match, poor Pigmy Wolverine.
 
Her name is Puma.  She is an itty little bitty Kit, a quarter his size,
and she is apparently nuclear powered.  She looks so sweet, so innocent,
she still has her soft Kit's fur, and a round baby's belly.  Her feet
are huge, She'll be growing into them for some time.
 
Don't be fooled.  We named her Puma for a reason.  Like a panther,or
catamount, or mountain lion, or any of the other names commonly given to
the puma, she is a fierce predator.  She chases Ping, and rides him like
a pony for fun.  When that gets dull, she steals his cookie and runs away
with it, while he hisses in rage and disappointment.  Sometimes he just
can't stand the constant harrasment, and he will knock her down, and drag
her a little ways by the neck until she calms down.  It only works until
he lets her up.  Then she springs up with a nearly audible BOING!  Jumps
on his back, and rides him liike a pony again.  WHEE!  What fun!
 
Sometimes I find Ping standing up against the plastic of the ferret room
barrier....begging.....silently begging for some time out without that
wild child.  I reach my hand down, he wraps his two arms around my wrist
and I lift him up and out.  He skulks right into the living room, and
hides inside the sofa for hours.
 
Now, before you feel completely sorry for Ping is He, I must point
out that many is the time I have witnessed these two in mad, manic,
passionate play.  They gallop through the tubes, playing chase and bite.
They wrestle in the rice box, digging a hole to China together.  They
jump and thrash inside the potting soil box, and dirt flies everywhere.
They run around their room clockwise.  Then counterclockwise.  clockwise
again.  Then it's back to the tubes.  Then they jump into the puff of
Wal-Mart bags, and disappear, only their thrashing travel through the
bags is evident.  They themselves are invisible.
 
They travel the house in tandem when it is free roam time.Big ferret,
little ferret.  He has shown her all the good places to go....well...all
the good places that she is big enough to reach on her own.  He is still
king of the forbidden kitchen counter, and the forbidden potato basket,
and the forbidden shelf above the washer and dryer, and the forbidden top
of the antique radio, and the forbidden pantry shelves.  And probably
half a dozen other forbidden places that I just haven't found out about
yet..
 
The dog is terrified, terrified.
 
Alexandra in MA
[Posted in FML issue 4869]