Greetings All !!
 
Last Sunday I rescued a sweet little male badger ferret named Stymie, A
friend of mine told me about him a month ago saying this woman she knows
wanted to get rid of him because she did'nt have time for him and the
daughter always pulled his tail so the woman never let him out of his cage,
would I be interested?  I said of course I would, gave her my number and
was waiting to get the call.  She finally called last weekend and I told
her I'd be right over to get him.  When I got there it just broke my heart.
He was kept in a small pet carrier up on a shelf in the laundry room with
two paper towels as bedding, no litter box and horrid cat food to eat.  The
woman told me that he was about five years old and had pretty much been
kept in the pet carrier for three and a half years.  I just smiled and
cuddled the little angel wanting nothing more than to slap this stupid
woman and get little Stymie out of there as quickly as possible.  He is a
Marshall Ferret and with the exception of his first shots as a baby he has
not been vacinated since.  I had brought my own cage to transport him home
with food, water litter box and a comfortable bed and she gave me the
carrier too.  I have been meaning to get one anyway for easier fuzzbutt
trasport to the vet.  So..  Stymie and I were on our way to his new home.
When we got home I gave him a bath, clipped very long nails and 20 q-tips
later got all the horrible crap cleaned out of his ears, brushed his teeth
and introduced him to the joys of ferretone and ferretvite.  All through
his spa treatment he was as calm as can be and settled down in my arms for
a nap.  Keeping in mind he has not seen another ferret since he was a baby
I slowly introduced him to the gang one by one.  He was intriqued but not
really impressed, I put him down to walk around and his hind legs are a bit
weak due to inactivity but he motered around pretty good exploring his new
digs.  My ferrets live in what is referred to as Ferret Wonderland a 20X40
foot room with tubes, toys a large rice box for digging a nightstand for
napping and numerous hidy holes for statshing treasures and a sofa of their
own for romping on.  Stymie was fascinated.  You see, Stymie is learning
how to be a ferret again and that toys are for him to play with and that
there are others that look like him.  For about a week he has pretty much
laid around and tried to keep two steps ahead of Scooter who seems to enjoy
terrorizing him but the other night the most wonderful thing happened, he
remembered from a long time ago that he could wardance.  And dook and
wardance he did with the look of pure joy on his sweet ferret face.  He
even started to play in the tubes with the others and he's gaining weight,
he was about a pound under weight.  I took him to the vet the other day for
shots and a check-up and the vet said that except for needing to gain some
weight he's in pretty good health.  His hind legs are getting stronger
everyday the more he uses them and he is enjoying his freedom and getting
to know his new family in his new home where he is loved and appreciated
for the joy he brings to our lives.  I'm so glad I was home to take this
call, for Stymie has finally found the home that was meant for him.  Dooks,
Wardances and Hugs to Everybody and their Fuzzies.
 
Linda and the now 8 Terrorists of Fur
[Posted in FML issue 2680]