To: john 23; et. al.:
 
    On escaped ferret & homing instinct; When my Timmy was out I was told
of a couple of ferrets that found their way back after over a week.  Timmy
was fortunately picked up by a kind lady 3 hours after he got out, which
was very lucky, as she found him in the middle of a SIX LANE HIGHWAY with
cars going OVER him!  God & many of his helpers were watching over him!  I
would not, however found the lady and him, if a friend had not told me to
expand the search area more than the 2 block area I postered already.  Also
a good suggestion was to say REWARD$$! on the poster, which I added as it
did make a difference for one person's lost fuzzy.  (yes, some people won't
make the effort unless...)
 
    As far as surviving 85-90's temperature, it's certainly not advisable if
we have a choice, but I certainly would not give up just because of that.
It was January when Timmy was out, and cold (for phoenix) and rainy, which
worried me.  I had put out a carrier with food & water, covered with plastic
& a couple of nested ski hats inside for warmth.  Yours may again be lucky
by someone picking them up, so it becomes a matter of finding the person.
 
    To get weight on, what Dr.  Susan Brown Rx'd for Timmy that she said had
no equal, was Deliver 2.0, which any pharmacy can order & get in a day or
so.  Shop for $, as I've seen a case of 12 / 8oz.  cans go for $23 at
Albertsons' to $35 at other pharm's.  It apparently has twice the calories
per ounce than Nutrical, etc.  All mine seem to love the taste, though a
sick kitty doesn't.  I think that's strange as I think it tastes like cream,
but oh well..
 
    For biting kits, I gently tap their noses, look into their eyes, and say
"No, don't bite me, I'm not a ferret!".  95% of the time it stops right
then!  (I know some people will think that's "crazy", but all I can say is
what really happens.  Nothing to lose by trying, anyway!
 
    For rough play, when Fred (my first rescue) was learning to play with
other ferrets, (I think he was an only ferret wherever he came from), He was
puzzled at first, then a bit too rough as he is pretty big, so when I found
scabs on the "victoms", I would pinch his rear when he was biting what I
thought was too hard, and when I got his attention, I'd again look him in
the eyes & say "No, not so rough!".  He now plays gently like the others.  I
really consider myself happy in watching them all (8) play together.  Most
of them just poke the others with their nose, and hardly bite at all!
(civilized ferrets?!)...  There is lots of body tackles where they just lay
on someones' back, as an invitation to play.  Mouth to mouth, there's open
jaw sparring, but no hard biting.
 
    Especially when they are all piled together sleeping, I sometimes wish I
was small enough to get in the cage with them, they seem so at peace with
the world & content.  Now if we only had more of that in the world....
 
        Happy pooks to all, Gary
[Posted in FML issue 1306]