Yesterday we attended the all denomination Blessing of the Animals in Topeka at Gage park. We took 3, Scooby, Bandit, and Silver, in their somewhat small but comfortable black break-down cage with 2 partial shelves, 2 hammocks, litter box, food bowl and water bottle. Scooby was very frightened. Some of you may remember he was our malnourished baby we got back in March, and that he is deaf. He was wide eyed and very still. When I took him out, this ferret that normally struggles to be released from my loving hold, stayed so very still. I took advantage of the opportunity and cuddled him to my fill for the time. Bandit was very curious and tried so hard to stay awake and watch all the goings on. She especially delighted in being held by one of the minister's helpers for a very long time. :-) Silver was nervous at first and quite the hand full for Nancy. But he soon settled down and was quite content to be there in the crowd. We didn't let too many people handle them but the two women ministers were very curious about them and one in particular asked if she could hold them. They were very well behaved in this blessed atmosphere. It was funny to watch the dogs go by with their people and then get a whiff of the ferrets and to the surprise of their people the dogs would do a quick turn-around to come sniff the cage. We had the cage up on a table and the bars were spaced close together so the ferrets were safe. The ferrets too loved the dogs. We use to have two, but now we are dogless and this showed me just how much they miss their dogs. Apparently a big great dane puppy was thrilled with the ferrets. (nope, we aren't getting a great dane, uh uh, nope) An 8 week old puppy was frightened of them and wouldn't go near the cage. The children were attracted to the ferrets like magnets to refrigerators. They would stick fingers in the cage (Nancy and/or I were watching at all times) and the parents would pull them back and say no they might bite and I would say no they don't bite they are very gentle and the kids would put fingers back in but the ferrets didn't even notice. If the child was fortunate to have one sniff their finger, they would giggle and pull back only to put their finger back in. We had two news crews film us and we appeared on two local tv stations in a very positive light. One of the stations interviewed us and we had a short clip on that station, complete with my response to one of their questions. We also got to meet three rats, an 8 yr old rabbit, lots of dogs and an 8 wk old pot-bellied pig. The ferrets took it all in stride and behaved very well. By the time we left Scooby was a bit more comfortable. Considering this was his first time out at a public event I think he did fine. :-) When we got home and I brought the travel cage in, 10 ferrets climbed in and stayed, ready for us to take them on a trip too! Warm hugs to all. tle Troy Lynn Eckart Ferret Family Services http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~sprite/ffs.html http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Haven/5481/ Please sign up to support our charity http://www.iGive.com/html/ssi.cfm?cid=46&mid=58395 [Posted in FML issue 3201]