hi everyone, i cannot thank all of you enough for writing me with your kind words & support today; what a lifeline. chloe still hasn't been located; as we've been doing since monday, we spent last night trolling the neighborhood for her, putting up flyers, calling her, squeaking the squeaky toys, etc. i'm becoming quite discouraged...particularly since speaking with one of my neighbors last night. he said on tuesday night he & his wife were at home & their dogs suddenly became very excited, and one tried to jump out of a second-story window to get outside. they then heard the sound of a "rabbit" screaming and coyotes making their coyote noises near their house. i am hoping to god the answer is no, but do rabbits & ferrets have the same scream? i've not heard a rabbit scream before. i am hoping against hope that the answer is no; i can't bear the thought of such a horribly violent death befalling a sweet, defenseless, lonely, hungry, cold, innocent, friendly lost little ferret, particularly if it's one of my sweet girls. how very sad if it's true...but hopefully it's not. and to add to the trouble...my 2 cats accompanied me out on one of the neighborhood searches on tuesday night; it was nice to have their "help". we three strolled aroung the neighborhood together until my little girl kitty (who was raised with the ferrets & is therefore convinced she is one) became sidetracked by something in the woods & went to investigate. i didn't think anything of it until she didn't come home that night (that is seriously aberrant behavior from her...she's always home for dinner, and then she puts herself to bed for the night). i called & called for her before work in the morning; no luck. i searched my house for the millionth futile time this week. i went out to call & squeak for both chloe & kitty this time; no luck on both counts. we went to put out the flyers for chloe; still no kitty or chloe. at this point i retreated indoors so i could lay on the couch & cry about my 2 lost pets that i was convinced had become coyote fodder. about 15 mins later i heard my sister in my back yard screaming "KITTY!!!!" and she then came running in with my missing cat. she was fine except for the fact that her tail & rear end were covered in blood. naturally, i flipped out further, but in a demented, relieved sort of way. so we cleaned kitty off & discovered she had torn off about 2 inches of skin from the tip of her tail, leaving what was left of the bone exposed. how she managed this, i can only imagine. sooo...my kitty vet doesn't have emergency hours, and kitty didn't seem to be in any kind of pain (she was actually quite playful & affectionate & glad to be home) so we just dressed her tail as best as possible & waited out the night. she had her vet appt. today & she's fine...just needed a few stitches, and the exposed bone of her tail that couldn't be stitched in will just die off eventually. that's a relief...someone who emailed me today said that ferrets will give you gray hair, and i'd like to extend that to; ALL pets will give you gray hair (and ulcers, and crow's feet, and high blood pressure :-) ). sorry, i know this is a FERRET list & not a cat list, but i felt kitty deserved an honorable mention for wounds received while out ferret searching. sooo...it's been almost four days since chloe was last seen, and i am beginning to firmly believe we may not see her again. sandee; if you could keep an eye out for her in the next few whiles, she is the beautiful, super snowy DEW who jumps higher than the sky & shakes her head & butt back & forth when she plays...tell her i love her & i'm sorry i didn't protect her better while i still had the chance. she'll be in good company with her best friend zeus, who met sandee in march. thank you again everyone who emailed me with all of your lost ferret success stories, tips for searching, etc. my confidence in chloe's return has been pretty mercurial for the past few days. however, when i read these emails from people who took time out of their days to encourage & offer healing words to me, my belief in Chloe's safety & the good & generosity of humankind is restored. blessed be, jessica. jessica l. manson whimsy creative photography! 28 stafford st. plymouth, ma 02360 (508) 747-5505 [log in to unmask] www.whimsyphoto.com [Posted in FML issue 3785]