Well, they once again proved that they are constantly vigilent, and probe continually for weaknesses. Whilst their room is 'proofed' the mind in charge of it (me) occasionally lapses.....and they take full advantage of it! Our youngest female (Jasmine-9 months old, and deaf) gets along with only 2 boys (the youngest-Jasper, and the oldest-Jester) leaving 13 other ferrets she does not!! For 6+ months, we have tried to introduce her to the other ferrets.....and failed.... She will not tolerate any other female ferret (of whom there are 6) now, Jasmine is the heaviest of all the females... On the other hand, she will also try to dominate the big males...and of course she is resoundly thunked! Being deaf and all....it gets quite loud... Anyway, Jasmine gets out in the evening/night hours with her 2 playmates, while the big kids sleep in their cage. Come morning, Jasmine goes to her cage for the day, and the big kids get run of the room..... (and the lucky Jasper and Jester are out 24 hours a day (except for cleaning time)) This morning, I went in to put everyone away in a cage to clean the room....and I thought (dangerous..(it was before coffee)) I'll pickup everything off the floor (blankets/sleepsacks/dens/etc..) and let all the girls out with Jasmine Jasper and Jester....let them try once again to work it out....with nothing on the floor, they will be forced to see one another, and not hide in things.....it sounded good to me, so I picked up everything, and had the 5 foot high Martins cage stacked up to 7 feet high! Not all was there, there were other stacks of toys/things too.... but, mostly bare floor... Got all 9 ferrets together in the room, and as usual, Jasmine went berserk, scruffing every girl she stumbled across, and much screaming ensued (from scruffer, and scruffee!) When the poop and pee trails appeared, I followed and wiped up...... After a few minutes, I decided to leave, and go get coffee (and while I did that, no one seemed to be getting killed...) I decided to go read email (FML is one of them...) and enjoy my coffee before I went back and cleaned........ Gee, this is good coffee......gee, it seems pretty quiet in the ferrets room.....and as we all know, that's a sure sign somethings up!! The ferrets room used to have a closet, with bi-fold doors that are now gone, and now with shelves installed, it is where spare TF, and clean hammocks and blankets, and treats (Bandits and Cheerios) live, along with paper towels and toys etc etc etc...... I walk into the room to find 8 of the 9 ferrets that are out, just standing around looking perfectly innocent, whilst standing knee deep in Cheerios! Yes, 'someone' had discovered that the human had stacked just enough stuff...... just close enough.......to....'Eldorado' The Mother-Lode .... 'The Shelf Full Of Treats'..... whatever! Of course, not one of them standing there was the slightest bit interested in eating (any more) Cheerios! Off to 'cage-land' those 8 went, but where was #9 ferret (Tiki)?? and who was responsible for leading those 8 into the temptation of 'whole grain goodness'??? My wife thought it was Clover (Ya-Ya) tho it seemed to me to be a Tiki (Flying Weasel) operation....speaking of Tiki, she was the missing one.......where was she??? The floor is bare.....and the 5 foot high Martins cage has been modified with Plexiglass strips to prevent any climbing......so, where is the missing weasel found?? 7 feet off the floor.....wrapped in a blanket, on top of a den...as high as you can get on top of the Martin's cage.....sleeping!.....no doubt, with a belly full of Cheerios!!! Richard, Debra, and the 16 'Yakimaniacs' of Yakima Riki (Princess)...Tiki (Flying Weasel)...Tavi (Sharkey) Chuckles (Mr Softy)...Pansy (Meany Mouse)...Clover (Ya-Ya) Rose (Rosebud)...Jester (Old Man)...Joker (Joke-e)...Lily (Mama Lily) Jasper (Little Boy)...Dean (Mellow Yellow)...Martin (Mar-tino)...Jasmine (Jas-Mean-O) Casper and Rex [Posted in FML issue 2973]