A friend of mine recently related a story to me that involved chinchillas
but since ferrets are at similar risk, I thought I would post this as a
cautionary warning anyway.
 
She has a friend who owns so many chinchillas that literally, the walls
move.  They are free to roam, bop and fly in the home and are oftimes
found in cupboards, footwear and shower stalls.
 
She returned home one afternoon after running errands for a couple of hours
and after passing by one particular area of the house, heard a different
kind of squeaking from one of her chinchillas.  After a moment or two, she
realize the sound was coming from near her floor board.  She bent down to
look and found one of her chinchillas stuck in a vaccuflow system opening,
with its poor little feet and face sticking out.  Thank goodness the
chinchilla was big enough not to get sucked in entirely.  The poor little
guy survived without a problem, except that he was left with a circular
area on its back where the hair would stick straight up and out.  It took
months for the hair to return to normal.
 
Apparently the chinchilla dug at the vaccuflow covering long enough for it
to pop off and in effect, start the suction going.  She has since had the
system removed.
 
I have measured the opening on one of these systems and the opening is
large enough for a ferret to get a face caught in one, or a small body
to get sucked into one.
 
Betty and Her Blur O'Fur
for the love of ferrets....
[Posted in FML issue 3155]