Hi All, I'm Francois Dylan [Piranha (new mom added that)]. Perhaps you remember me. I was in a pet store and VERY unhappy. A wonderful person rescued me and later gave me to Shelter Mom Alicia. Well, now I have a new permanent home and while I have all I could possibly want (4 friends, great food and treats, tons of toys, and even my own bunk bed), I have one thing to say.....I want to nominate my new mom for the "Mean Mom of the Year" Award. Why?... you say.... I'll tell you why... Is it not my job to inspect, examine, investigate, and otherwise scrutinize all I come in contact with? Is it not my responsibility to ensure all things are personally ferret-tested by me? Well here's my story and I'm stickin' to it..... We have ceramic bowls full of yummy food. Of course I had to make sure the bowl was capable of holding all that food, so I had to literally 'get to the bottom' of it. I worked very hard, diligently redepositing all that food around the bowls and across the room.. Digging is hard work, folks. Just ask any ferret. Personally, I think it tastes better on the carpet anyway. Well, mom caught me and you can't imagine what she did... she put the food BACK in the bowls and gave me a stern talking to. She obviously didn't appreciate all my hard work. That's not all. There's more. We also have ceramic water bowls. After performing a thorough investigation of the bottom of the bowls (of course I had to tip the bowls over to get the water out), I found them to be free of leaks. Was mom proud of me? NO. Can you believe what she did when she caught me for the third time? She laughed. She laughed at me...and changed the bowls to purple plastic non-tip bowls. Can you imagine that!!!! Yes, of course I tested them. No, they do not tip over. So...for the reasons of stifling my curiosity, hindering my natural instinct to dig and tip ( the big plastic turtle filled with shredded newspaper and toys just isn't the same as food and water), and generally suppressing my ability to have fun, I nominate my mom for the "Mean Mom of the Year" Award. The newest of Angela's Angels, F.D.Piranha F.D.Piranha - 'Hey, that shelf looks mighty enticing' Zena - "Wow..a pool...how fun' Sassy - 'Go for it. I'm right behind ya' Ted - 'Yup, it does taste better from the carpet' Cocoa - 'I told ya you'd get caught, didn't I?' [Posted in FML issue 3958]