This was originally sent on Sept 16th , but never made it due to technical problems: As recounted during the past three days, Gus, a 3 1/2 lb Marshal Farms ferret 'bailed out' of an open window of a minivan last week at approx 5:00 A.M. while traveling through some rural countryside recently being converted to (non affordable) housing. We had only a guess as to where it happened, didn't discover him missing for four hours . The area is heavily populated with wildlife, with numerous predators. Most of the homes are very large and with the type of owners unlikely to spend much time outside of their cars or home air conditioning. Factors in Gus's favor were his extremely good physical condition, perhaps his initial experiences in getting to know our snauzer-poodle dog Poppie, and (let's face it... luck). The weather was really about perfect temperature wise, there was dew in the morning for water, and two farm ponds were in the area through which he traversed. There was a clear sky and no rain. Gus is also a dark sable color that I'm sure served as good camouflage. Some of the land was wooded, but it appears that Gus kept mostly to the edges of meadow land, along hedgerows or in flower gardens. That was the most direct route between the two places where he was spotted. The really wooded areas would have been encountered had he continued on the path from the road to where he was spotted initially. Fortunately he had the good sense (or scents), to reverse course away from the known danger, retrace his steps back to the road, continue along it for half a mile, and then at some point make the crossing in order to reach another group of houses. Gus was found on the sixth day, and other than being really hungry and bone tired, he was still in good shape. First move after getting home was to briefly acknowledge Trixie ferret and then run down to his basement room and climb up to the hammock in front of the open (screened in) window overlooking our back yard. There he fell asleep for the rest of the day. After that it was back up to the kitchen breakfast nook to be nearer the food dish. Except for food and bathroom breaks, he was asleep up there for two days straight before venturing out. Four days later he is nearly back to his old self, energy and weight wise. I think he may actually be enjoying his new found notoriety and what he learned on the 'mission'. He seems to pay a bit less attention to Trixie these days, but checks in more often with me, Susie or Poppie to get a hug and a scratch, and be sure that he know where we are. It was raining quite heavily this morning and I saw him sitting on a window sill between the curtain and the window screen looking out at the sunrise. After a bit he retreated to find the food dish, and is now asleep again on the hammock inside the dark hidey hole cubby that I built for him in the breakfast nook. What would I do differently? Other than the obvious such as closing the windows, it is a good idea to have a good picture of your ferret available, and a plan of action should the unexpected happen. It still is surprising the number of people who don't know what a ferret looks like, and are afraid of any such animal. Temperatures permitting, I've also made it a habit to take a ferret with me as often as possible. It gets the ferrets used to the sights, smells, and sounds in the area; and it also gets the humans used to the sight and behavior of the ferrets ... Always a joy to watch the expression on the face of a sales clerk, when a ferret is spotted peeking out of a jacket, or the hand with the money suddenly has a ferret also coming out of the sleeve. But that is another adventure. [Posted in FML issue 4276]