What a gross smell when I walked in my door fr my 4 months away...
My petsitter had let the fert cage get plastered with feces. Not to
mention the cat poop on the livingroom and office carpets. DAMN!

I have spent the last two days cleaning -- especially the huge Martin's
cage.

Parts of the cage still smell bad. It's got the plastic coating. Can
anyone recommend a particularly good cleaner?

Also, the ferrets' coats were all rough, and I worried that they were
sick. But it turns out to have been dust. I watered the outdoor pens
and also handled them a lot, and now their fur feels almost normal.

And the final upheaval -- also solved: Yesterday afternoon I had a
couple of guys (who know my ferrets and who helped build the outside
pens) remove the cage from the house so we could wash it outside. As
part of that they had to block off the entry to the house from the
outside pens where the ferts were.

Well, some friends on their way up horth stopped by, and as were were
visiting, one of them casually pointed out Rico wandering through the
dry grass. Then I saw Phillippe. And, in another direction, Robert.
My friends got all silly and useless Oh ! they couldn't help -- maybe
they would get bitten ! and Oh ! they had to leave ! Dear God, I was
so irriatated with them with the scrap of mind that I had left for
considering anything except finding my furry ones.

There were ferrets all over the place. They had jumped down from the
window opening and then most had gone out the dog door.

What a scramble. And what amazing good fortune. I gathered up the three
of them. Then found two more. Then more. Most were outdoors, and a
couple were inside the house. At that point 8 of the 10 were accounted
for and locked in an f-proofed bathroom. A while later Lucy showed,
scooting down one of the ferret drain pipes.

But where was Tina???? Oh little dear Tina, my tiny girl who'd been
extra affectionate -- more than ever before -- during the two days I'd
been back home, where was she? You can just imagine my state of mind
-- amazed at having found so many and so sad to be missing my little
runtling.

I looked and looked, no luck. It got dark, and I got out my flashlight.
No Tina. Finally I went to bed. Looked again today. Still no Tina.

Then this aft I gathered the nine from the bathroom and put them back
in an outside pen, now secured against any escapes. Amidst the mob, who
did I see? Tina! She apparently never left the cage, and must have been
sleeping in one of their new tunnels. It hadn't occurred to me to check
there. I guess she came out when I put the others down, becasue I had
looked around the pen before tipping the nine out of their "taxi," in
case I might see her.

I am still amazed at my good luck -- imagine having all those ferrets
on the loose and recovering them all.

[Posted in FML 5641]