Hi Everyone,

Happy Fall! We have ten ferrets at this time and after Sukie and her
husband's need to flee, I decided I needed to visit the ferret room and
escape plan. I grew up with twin brothers who are visually impaired so
moving in the dark was sort of "fun thing" we used to do with them and
I now do with ease. I will tell you though, moving through the ferret
room, in the dark, looking for specific things, I realized I should
have a flashlight attached to the wall just inside the door to always
have at hand. Moving through a room and needing to flip cage covers,
open doors, deal with latches and hooks under pressure works better
with lights - something that may not be available during a fire or
power outage.

I also thought, "I never checked to see if the big carrier could fit
through the window." I also never checked to see how far I would have
to drop it to the ground or how I could place all four outside the
window without dumping them on their sides or end over end.

Writing this, I am thinking I will also go get a fire extinguisher to
place in the ferret room to buy some additional time if needed from
that point out of the house. If we close our ferret room door and
crunch the rug up against the door we could by additional time. Fitting
ME through the window might be the bigger challenge!!

I think this weekend I will also have a few dry runs at grabbing kids,
putting them in the carriers and handing them out the window. Maybe we
will do one after dark with the lights off as well.

For those of you who do not have room for carriers in your ferret area
you can simply make a bag or pillowcase with a zipper in the top so the
ferrets can't get out, hang it on the cage and load them in that to get
them out of the building.

I have three groups that run made up of six, two and two or possibly
four as a few can cross groups. I am pretty good at locating ferrets
under pressure when they are off snoozing in several different sleep
places. My kids and I have a special ability, call it mental telepathy,
but they come when I send out a mental message to them - I am hoping
that will work in times of distress! I used to let the bigger group be
out of the cage at night and have re-thought that. Trying to get all of
them in carriers as well as grabbing kids from sleep places didn't sit
well with me as a good idea. The story Keith shared of his and Evelyn's
experience with the fire at Father Nature's Ferret Rescue and the loss
of their babies, as well as the personal impact, brought it too close
to home.

Now when the ferrets go off to snooze, I round them up and put them in
their cages where I know they can be gathered quickly.

I appreciate the information shared by those who have lived through
such events -- you have made me not only think, but changed my behavior
to help my kids.

Blessings to all, Cathy

Feed rescued animals in two clicks
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3
LJ

[Posted in FML 6501]