When one of her friends dropped by with her pet, Barb Carlson had no
way of knowing how much it would change her life. "A friend brought
a ferret to my house and it stared down my fierce hunter cat. I was
so impressed that I've been hooked ever since. After I'd seen how my
friend's ferret behaved with the cat, I purchased one of my own. I did
everything wrong AND the ferret was sick when I bought her. Amazingly,
she survived and I learned."

And learn she did. The mother of four grown children (and six
grandchildren), Barb learned that they are great preparation for
ferrets. "As my children grew up and moved out, I added ferrets. I
thought that was a great trade. At least when the ferrets get annoying
I can put them in a cage. If you do that with the kids, they put you
in jail." Barb opened her shelter, the Hide-E-Hole
(http://www.ferret-hide-e-hole.org) Ferret Rescue in Pittsburgh, PA and
her heart, to ferrets. "Ferrets have more personality per square inch
than any other pet I've ever owned. Also, having had four children, I
was used to chaos. When the kids moved out, the ferrets supplied that
missing chaos very nicely."

Last year she opened her home to a most memorable group of individuals,
when "a crew of Australians descend on my house for 13 hours one day,
videotaping me talking about dead ferrets in the freezer and recording
me singing my song. They MADE me do it, honest!" What they didn't ask
her about though, was her memories. Although there are many, Barb says,
"probably my fondest memory is of three of my ferrets working together
to get my desk drawer open. In that drawer were some silk flowers. I
walked into the room just in time to see the ferrets ... one, two,
three ... running across the floor as fast as their little legs could
carry them -- each with a silk rose in their mouth like some kind of
demented Tango dancer! And they didn't want to give those flowers back,
either! They hissed at me!"

As with many other ferret enthusiasts, Barb is a big fan of science
fiction. As such, she has had the opportunity to participate in sci-fi
conventions. At one, in Atlanta, GA, she met the author of the
Dragonriders of Pern book series, Anne McCaffrey. Not one to let an
opportunity to pass her by, Barb wanted to share a character she had
created for a fanzine. The character "had two green firelizards, both
named Doxy. When she asked why they were both named Doxy, I replied,
"Because I've always wanted to have a 'pair of doxies' (paradox)."
Looking back she now agrees, "Yes, it was awful."

If you want to know more about this playful woman, you should stop Barb
and ask her for the stories about her role as Maltz, a Klingon from one
of the Star Trek shows, or the time they staged a "wild anchovy hunt at
Altercon . . . so Julia Ecklar could track down the killer anchovies!"
Ever diverse, Barb's eclectic pleasures are demonstrated by her taste
in music ("I like many different kinds of music ranging from heavy
metal to acid rock to techno to alternative to some rap and country.")
to her taste in movies ("comedies, science fiction and *good* horror")

When she does slow down a bit, Barb turns to meditation to help her
relax. But usually she will be doing "something!" And, it might be
discussing modern religion with Jesus -- "I'd like to get his reaction
on the modern Catholic church and maybe what happened to those nuns who
tortured me in grade school -- or swooning over her hero, Dr. Wagner!
But, "playing with the ferrets is the most fun, and that's cool."

Barb is sure to be remembered in different ways, and she is not too
concerned about what people think. "If you want to remember me as that
crazy ferret lady with dead ferrets in her freezer, that's fine. If
someone wants to remember my music, poetry, or writing, that's fine
too." And, she does have a goal for her own life. "I want to emulate
people who are happy with their lives, who practice what they preach,
and who are kind to everyone. I'd mostly like to be remembered as
someone who loved animals and the animals loved her back."

The easiest way to reach Barb is by email:
[log in to unmask] Or, you can visit her the night before
the symposium as she hosts the Shelter Benefit Dinner on Thursday
night. And, to get ready, if you want to see what kind of trouble Barb
can stir up, you can check out her blogs on Gather.com (bcarlson15210)
and Multiply.com.

Whatever you do, be sure NOT to miss her presentation at the Symposium
on Sunday when she discusses nursing sick ferrets back to health!

Join us in Pittsburgh
November 7-9, 2008

International Ferret Congress (http://www.ferretcongress.org)
Ferret Emergency Response, Rescue and Evacuation Team (F.E.R.R.E.T.)
(http://www.ferretemergency.org)

[Posted in FML 6129]