Condolences to those with lost, sick, or angeled Shirt Snugglers... Yesterday (Tuesday) was sheer bedlam at my house. I bought a pack of 3 jingle balls. These are little plastic balls with shapes cut out and a metal "bell" inside, which contains a metal bead. When the ball is rolled around, the "bell" moves within and the bead hits the sides, causing a jingling sound. Now, mind you, I've had at least two jingle balls in the house for over a year. Chewy has one in his cage and the other one floats about the house. Sometimes the cat plays with it (causing an immediate attempt by a nearby ferret to steal it from him!), sometimes one of the other ferrets play with it. Sometimes it even gets stashed in a cage and has to be removed so everyone can play with it. Well, these new balls seemed to rekindle the memories of fun times nosing a jingle ball around the house in everyone. First, Taz had a ball chasing them about the living room while the poor cat crouched on the coffee table and watched. The cat was fit to be tied, wishing he had the nerve to get on the floor and chase one of the balls, but knowing full well that the ferret would punish him if he tried! Next, Chewy got to play with them. He was in second heaven. Snacks were ignored (!!!), toys were ignored...even the water bowl (a source of endless amusement on his part) was ignored! Every time I looked for him, he was nosing a ball in one direction or other. When it was his time to go back into his cage, he got the ball there and played with it for quite some time! :) When the large group was out, that was when the excitement started! Every ball available was put to immediate use. Everywhere you looked, a ball was being nosed all about the living room or kitchen. Add-A-Kiss took one up the stairs and dropped it, then watched as it bounced all the way to the bottom. She then scurried down as fast as she could (let's just say that all you could see was a blur!) to retrieve the ball and trot back up the stairs to do it all again! The funniest part, was when one of those that didn't have a ball to nose around, would wait in ambush for a ball-nosing fert to pass by. The hiding fert would then fly out from their hiding place, commit assault and battery on the ball-nosing fert, then steal their ball and start nosing it around on their own! The best part, was that you couldn't ever tell where a fert would be waiting in ambush...from under the corner table (which only has an opening of about 1/2" above the floor, or the credenza, which has a higher opening...about 1.5 inches...or the new two-level kitty kondo (which is WAY too small for my cat to get into!), or the bookshelf (where there are lots of things to hide behind!), or one of the various nooks and crannies where they've found good hiding places. The attacks were quick, vicious and merciless, with balls being stolen right and left! This ball rolling and ambushing continued for more than an hour, often times causing me to burst into side-spltting laughter. Even the cat seemed to enjoy watching the ferts stealing the balls from each other. Occasionally, from his perch on the chair, or the coffee table, he would reach down and swat a ball away from a fert intent on nosing it one direction or other. The fert would then race after it, lest they lose it to another fert! I guess the funniest moment was when the cat reached down from his spot on the chair and caught one ball in two paws. He lifted it up onto the chair to play with it. The fert that had been nosing it around seemed totally unaware that the cat had anything to do with his suddenly-missing ball. He began frantically searching for the ball, while the cat just sat there smiling! Now, don't get me wrong. The ferrets have all played with the two balls that I already had, from the very beginning. However, none of them (except maybe Chewy, who LOVES those little jingle things--and the cat, of course) have spent this much time playing with them. When I put out the new ones, they also played with the old one that was still out. It was almost as though they were kids set loose in a toy store! I guess sometimes, it is more enjoyable to watch someone else (even if its a pet) have fun with something that you've provided, than it is to go out and have the fun yourself! :) Todd and the (MINEMINEMINEMINEMINE) Fuzzbutt Rodeo Clowns! --- http://GiftsAndCollectibles.sites.cc [log in to unmask] http://users.success.net/toddl/ [Posted in FML issue 3245]