George & i were talking about the first time we'd each ever seen a ferret. His story is better than mine. George's story: He grew up in a tiny town in rural Ohio. As a child (this is maybe 40 or 45 years ago), he hung around with a lot of the old duffers. One of them often went to the farm auctions & was known for bringing home animals that were on the strange side (3 legged goat, etc.). One time little Georgie went into this man's yard & saw a rabbit hutch full of something weird; whatever they were were long & slinky & stood upright to get a good look at him and sort of swayed in unison. & they stunk. They were ferrets, & he was smitten. They were mean & odorous & not pets at all, but he says he could see their sense of humor & could just tell they were cool. He and his older friend used to go out hunting rabbits with them & some dogs; they'd carry the ferrets in a burlap sack. In G's memory, the old man doesn't seem to have kept them very long; he probably took them back to the auction a few months later & traded them for something else. But they stuck in George's mind, & he always said he'd get one for a pet sometime, & about 25 years later, which is 20 years ago, he did. He got his First Ferret, Frieda. Sharin's story: About 20 years ago, I got a job where my boss was a somewhat eccentric guy with a somewhat eccentric pet - which i heard about, but never saw. Then one day, in the middle of winter, I showed up for a staff meeting, took off my big Sorel boots & had a seat, & someone said, George brought his ferret! Where? I asked, and looked around... My first sight of a ferret was a little head peering out of my boot. The challenge: Anyone else want to tell your stories of your first ferret sighting? i bet some of you have some good ones! It might be fun to share them. ---sharin [Posted in FML issue 2919]