Hi all:
 
Since we are admitting to horrible accidents that have happened (& almost
happened) to our fuzzbutts, I've got one. NOTE: it ends happily. I want to
share it as a warning to others.
 
One evening I had one of my seven ferrets out for runtime with me in the
living room. This ferret, Shadow, has been trained that at bedtime, when I
stand up he will follow me down to the ferret room, where he runs into his
cage and gets rewarded with 5 raisins. Problem is, Shadow doesn't tell
time, so he doesn't know when bedtime is. Result: EVERY time I stand up, he
wakes up excitedly and follows me wherever I am going. The only way I've
found to avoid this is to *very softly* stand up and walk across the room,
in the hope he won't feel my footsteps (he's deaf) and thus won't wake up.
 
So, on this particular evening, I had to run out for a minute to pick my
fiance up from work. Shadow was sleeping under the fishtank stand, so I
*very softly* stood up, and tiptoed to the door. I turned around, saw him
still snoozin', turned, grabbed my coat & keys, opened the door and very
quickly dashed out and slammed the door (so he wouldn't feel the cool air
and wake up.) This all took about 1.5 seconds.
 
Problem: I slammed the door, but it didn't shut. In that instant, I
realized something was stopping the door, and in the next instant I figured
out what it was. Shadow's head.
 
Wow, even in re-writing this story I'm starting to shake, I was so scared,
so guilty, and so concerned that Shadow was okay. I opened the door, and
sure enough, there he was, shaking his head. That darn ferret must have
bolted for the door when he saw me open it. I picked him up, and he was
still shaking his head, I felt SOOO bad. Then I started to panic. How do
you tell if a ferret has a concussion? Brain damage? They already act like
they have brain damage!!! I checked for cuts, blood, etc., then put him on
the floor to make him walk. I was looking for anything amiss. I know it
must have hurt, but the trooper never whined or showed it (other than the
head shaking.) I held him up to my face, the darn sweetie gave me kisses as
to say, "I know, Mom, you didn't mean it."
 
Crisis over, I put him back on the floor and went to the door again to
leave. The second the door opened, Shadow bolted for it again....
 
Are any of you going to argue that ferrets don't act like they're brain
damaged?? They just never learn!
 
Hopefully, though, with stories like these, we ferret keepers WILL learn,
and then our fuzzies can be safe despite themselves.
 
Kymberlie Becker
Director, Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association
"Forget Puppy Love...There's nothing Greater than Ferret Love!" TM
[Posted in FML issue 1902]