I've noticed a lot of stories about ferrets getting out of the house through
a momentarily open door.  I know that was a big concern for me and my (now
ex-) boyfriend when we moved in together with his ferrets.
 
We were subletting a small studio apartment in New York City and I kept
seeing these visions of us (mostly me) running down the hallway to catch an
escapee at 3am, which was when I usually got home.  We happened to be lucky
enough to have a short entry hall to the apartment.  We left just enough
room for the door to swing open and put up a "ferret shield; a 2 1/2 foot
high piece of clear plexiglass held up by some of those rubber feet that you
can buy at Radio Shack.
 
When my roommate and I moved into our current apartment, the first thing I
did was to plan out where I would put up new ferret shields, assuming Felix
would have the run of the entire apartment.  Again, I planned on one across
the entrance hall, more critical this time because there isn't a hallway,
two flights of stairs and a doorman between our door and the outside world
anymore.  I also planned on not letting Felix into the kitchen; just too
many things to get into.  What I wound up doing is keeping him (and now
Mazie, my roommate's ferret) confined to the bedrooms and bathroom with a
"shield" across the doorway to the living room.  They've got roam of half of
the apartment, which is a pretty good amount of space, and I don't have to
worry about them near the front door or the sliding door to the balcony.
 
One side benefit (?) of this is that it's kept the ferret math to a minimum
(for now).  Ed, my roommate, kicks the fuzzies out of his bedroom at night
and I'm not sure if I could deal with more than just these two running
around my room at 5am.  Of course, I'm sure that'll change before too
long.  ;)
 
Kathy Rich
[Posted in FML issue 1957]