Well, this is it.  It finally is going to happen.  My husband and I are
going to pack up our house, ferrets, rats, and gerbils and head south
like so many geese in the autumn.  Of course, the geese have just started
arriving here in Fairbanks and we will be leaving.  We are moving the
second week of June for Tucson, AZ.  We'll start by spending a week in
sunny Anchorage.  Followed by one last dipnetting trip to the Copper River
at Chitina.  Followed by leaving the state with stops in Seattle and
Portland to visit friends and relatives.  Our plan is to arrive in Tucson
by July 1st in time to get settled and for my husband to start his new job
on July 5th.
 
My question is follows: Awhile back, someone wrote about ferrets living in
an R.V. somewhere in Florida.  How do you keep the R.V. cool enough in the
hot-hot sun so the ferrets don't overheat (or so the rats don't overheat or
so the gerbils don't overheat)?  We'll be travelling in the dead of summer
in a truck with either a topper or camper.  The cab has AC, but not enough
room for ALL our rodents and mustelids.  The topper or camper (depending on
what we can find for less than $1000) will not have AC.  All the animals
will be in cages of some sort (as opposed the the glass aquariums that the
gerbils currently live in).  Throughout the trip we will have to stop
occassionally and turn off the truck, so the AC can't run continuously.
When visiting people, I'll try and get permission to move the animals into
a cool garage or something.  But, I am still slightly concerned.
 
Any other advice for living with ferrets/rats/gerbils in a truck for about
a month?  We'll be sleeping in the truck bed while in Canada, then staying
over at friends' houses.
 
Thanks for your knowledgable advice.
 
Deb (& Tovan) Adams
Patch and Lily, the paw-paw ferrets
Tiffany and Annie, the rats that throw food at the ferrets
Norm, Scar, Mike, Ike, Angel, and Cindy, the gerbils that tempt the ferrets.
[Posted in FML issue 3020]