My husband and I took a long, meandering trip down the Oregon coast to a small town on this side of the California border. The OR coastal ride is reputed to be one of the most beautiful in the world....sheer dropoffs to the ocean, huge waves, giant rocks jutting up from the sea, elk crossings, wildflowers and waterfalls. We went past quaint little beach cottages and monsterous multi-million dollar homes, past the Rogue River where fishermen try for salmon and many celebrities have vacation homes and on down to what is known as the "banana- belt" where jackets come off and air conditioners come on. We went to see Hiroshima. We got lost but finally arrived at a small house with a teenage boy waiting outside. I shook his hand and introduced myself. He went into the house and brought out Hiroshima....a gorgeous pale cinnamon (maybe champagne) enormous ferret with white knees...and pushed him into my arms. He weighed a ton! The boy's mother arrived on the scene to see who her son had GIVEN his ferret to instead of selling it. Hiroshima snuggled into my arms....a very young, overweight, unwanted Christmas/birthday gift? The boy said he was too busy to give him proper care. Some of my rescued ferets come with food, toys, blankets or cages. Hiroshima came with nothing except rolls of fat. I didn't think he had come out of his cage in quite a while. I placed him into a carrier and he went to the hammock, pushed his way under a blanket and fell asleep, obviously not stressing over his departure. I thanked the young man and left. We stopped at McDonalds for a quick bite...a treat for us because we live in an even smaller OR town with no McD's. Hiroshima continued his nap and during the 1.5 hour ride home I kept checking on him to make sure he was SND (sleeping not dead) but he rarely stirred, all comfy in his little nest. I did see him sniff with disdain at the food I brought. I later called the teenager and found out what Hiroshima liked to eat THEN made another trip UP the coast to a pet shop (ICK) to buy a small box of his favorite food (not mine) to mix into the 3 types of kibble that I feed and gradually wean him off the stuff with corn in it (another ICK). I rarely change a rescued ferret's name.... BUT.......HIROSHIMA? How about Hiro? My daughter Mary solved the problem by naming him Hero. He is the sweetest, FATTEST ferret in all the world, no bites not even toes, lots of kisses and friendly to other ferrets. Two days later we lost our 9 yr old Brewster to advanced insulinoma. He had been a terrible abuse case brought to me years ago by Chris and Dave at the OR Ferret Shelter. By the time I got him, Dave had made him forget his former life and become the sweetest ferret ever. It broke my heart when Brewster left for the Bridge. Hero is helping my heart heal. Nancy and her 15, missing sweet Brewster, welcoming sweet Hero [Posted in FML 6690]