While my husband was ill and shortly after his death, ferret math hit me and 5 more furkids joined us. Here's their stories... "The truckbed twosome" I regularly email all people who sell/give away their ferrets on the local (and not so local) craigslist. I tell them about ferret shelters, snake owners, insuring new owners are knowledgable, etc. I emailed someone several hours up the coast about their responsibility when giving away their 2 ferrets. They wanted me to take them....insisted that I take them....that no one else was going to have them. Their 2 ferrets were older and "very loved" they said. A couple weeks later they drove all the way down the coast to bring Isabella and Max to me. It turned out to be an unusually warm day on the coast and when they arrived with several dogs in the back of their truck panting like crazy in the sun, I told them to let them out for some water....nope they said, they're fine. I looked into the cab of the truck for the ferrets....nope, they were in the back of the truck too, in the hot sun, in a carrier, standing in their own feces and urine with no water or food...and had been like that for HOURS! As the owners of the "very loved" ferrets brought them into our house, I saw my 5 daughters race to the truck to water the dogs. The golden retriever had already jumped out of the truck and was racing down to one of our ponds. The girls lifted the rest of the dogs out and they joined him as he laid down in the water, lapping it like mad. I was busy in the house giving the 2 furkids water, water and more water. The owners of the "very loved" ferrets quickly left and the girls told them to STOP on their way home to get the dogs some WATER! And so "very loved" Isabella and Max aged 5+ had joined us to live out their lives. "The park baby" I received an email that a ferret had been found in a park and brought to the animal shelter in a neighboring town. They don't take ferrets but a volunteer took the ferret home as she was near death. She contacted a mutual friend who traps feral cats for spaying/neutering. The next morning my daughter and I drove to the shelter to pick the ferret up. What a surprise to be handed a little baby ferret weighing next to nothing with sparse coarse fur everywhere except on her tail which was naked. The volunteer said she was covered in fleas so was bathed and treated. The volunteer had even gone to a pet shop and got samples of ferret food to feed her. When I looked into the baby's eyes, they sparkled with life. I knew she would live! After a few days of screaming at every ferret she saw, she joined Isabella and Max. Now she is my fattest ferret. Her fur is gorgeous. Her best friend is Hero who she loves with all her heart. "The shelter kids" When Chris and Dave Mathis at the Oregon Ferret Shelter told me they were coming to my husband's service, I told them to bring me an "old guy" to cuddle. Then I called Chris back and told her to bring him a friend so he wouldn't be lonely. It was a 5-6 hour ride home for sweet old Travis, a love bug with medical needs and tiny Tigger who had been at the shelter for a very long time, passed over again and again by adopters. They don't know what they missed! "The whole group!" I decided that 3 smaller groups should be a BIG group of nine so let them all play together one day. I guess they thought they should be together too because there was not one tiff. Amazing! Hero, Moxie, Cutie Pootie and Daisy from one group joined Precious (the park baby) and "the truckbed twosome" Isabella and Max who joined Travis and Tigger the shelter kids! Nancy in Oregon and her 21 fantastic furkids! [Posted in FML 6867]