Hi, fuzzy people!
 
I've been reading with interest the posts on "dead ferret syndrome." When I
got my first ferret, Zorro, I bought a couple of books on ferrets and
checked out books on ferrets from the library.  -None- of them, that I can
remember, mentioned anything about that charming and oh-so-nervewracking
habit our fuzzies have of playing dead.  I think one book did mention that
ferrets can sleep very hard at times, but it didn't prepare me for the first
time I was faced with the dreaded syndrome.  My first experience with it
occurred very late one night...I had woken up and gone to the kitchen for a
glass of water.  When I came back to my room, I looked over at the ferret
cage and saw Zorro twisted into what appeared a very uncomfortable position.
So I figured I'd rouse him a little bit, give him a kiss, and let him go
back to sleep.  As I approached the cage, I called his name...no response.
That didn't particularly alarm me, but when I jingled the key on its chain
and unlocked the padlock on the door (I might add that Zorro is an
accomplished escape artist, thus the lock) and he still didn't respond, I
started to worry.  I called his name -very- loudly several times, then
picked him up, only to find him limp as a dishrag.  Well, by this time my
daughter has also woken and come in to find out what was going on, and here
I am trying to figure out some way to tell her that our beloved pet is gone,
when all of a sudden the little stinker holds his head up and opens one eye
to see why we're making such a fuss.  And to make matters worse, he went
right back to his happy snoozing, after ensuring that we wouldn't be able to
get to sleep for awhile!  *g*
 
Dooks,
Lisa
Mom of Zorro, Claudia, and Loki
@}-}--  --{-{@ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @}-}--  --{-{@
"I'm never alone; I'm alone all the time."
              --G. Rossdale
                "Glycerine"
[Posted in FML issue 2271]