Hiya!  Well, I did it!  I am now the owner of (or, more to the point, I am
now owned by) a dark sable kit.  She's a total sweetie!  (If you don't
remember who I am, I'm the one who asked about a month or so ago if there
were any healthy ferret stories out there.)
 
We've named her Marmette (the "ette" is to give a feminine touch) and she's
stolen our hearts....and our socks.  ALREADY!!!  She's kept us in stitches
over the weekend.  But it was the first two or three hours in our possession
that were the most hilarious.
 
I bought this really nice cage big enough for more than one ferret (my
husband has not caught on to that fact yet :-) ) I bought her a purple
hammock, purple litter box, purple collar and leash, several different toys,
Ferretone, a purple ferret "bag"...everything I could find that looked
"ferret-ish".  When we got her home we put her in her cage to look around.
She glanced at all her things like 'Yes, yes...this all will do quite
nicely, thank you.  Purple?  Nice, nice.....But wait!.....What's that over
there?!" And proceeded to run right through the bars and attack a
unsuspecting pair of sandals in the living room!!!!!!!  We stood there
dumbfounded.  So, thanks to the July 4th weekend, we had to keep her in a
large box before we could find an open hardware store to buy chicken wire to
wrap around the cage.  Hopefully in a month or so she'll be too big to get
through the bars.  But it was hilarious!  She had to have been cracking up
at my and Mike's opened mouth shocked looks.
 
Then she got bored with my sandals and charged after my feet.  We played
chase for about ten minutes (actually, she played chase, I played "RUN!!!
SHE'S GOING IN FOR THE KILL!!!").  I finally turned on her to chase her
back.  She stopped short, chattered then spun around....right into the
wall.  I felt so bad for her!!  She kinda sat there, dazed, then attacked
the wall for being in her way.
 
I called a time out and plopped down on the couch (Chase Your Ferret should
be a class offered at my gym!) and watched her explore the place.  She went
to the bottom of the stairs and I said to her "Too little for those yet,
sweetie." She looked at me as if to say "Oh yeah?" and flew up the stairs,
I swear, two at a time!!!  (not really but pretty darn fast!)
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!  My husband and I flew up the stairs after her
because the bedroom is the only place I didn't ferret-proof.  We found her
hiding behind the door under a towel.  We shut the doors, went downstairs
and blocked off the steps.  I shuffled back to the couch, wondering how
long she was going to be able to play like this.  To answer my question she
climbed up on the couch, explored the cushions and passed out on my lap.
When I picked her up and put her in her bedding, she was as limp as a wet
noodle but she didn't wake up, not even for a single moment.
 
I don't know how long its going to take her to bond with us but she's
already got us wrapped around her little....paw.  So, everyone raise your
glass and drink a toast to our newest addition to the family and FML.  May
more people get to experience the joy of owning such a beautiful little
animal.
 
Hugs and baby ferret kisses,
Rachel (How do I explain teeth marks to my pedicurist?)
Marmotte (Thanks for all these wonderful toys, ma!  But I think I'll just
          just spend the next 45 minutes playing with the bag they came in.)
 
Rachel Bray
The Ohio State University
Foundation and Endowments
 
Yorn desh born, der ritt de gitt der gue,
Orn desh, dee born desh, de umn bork! bork! bork!
[Posted in FML issue 2362]