Allow me to relate a conversation I had with Rhys on Friday. We were outside at a local grocery store, sitting at our fundraising table. Rhys (and Winter) were being perfect boys, just laying in my lap -- Rhys with his antlers and Winter in his Santa hat. The boys would only try to get off my lap in case of toilet needs. Rhys indicated that need was imminent, so I put him in his carrier. I was distracted for a moment, but still registered the sound that told of poop expulsion. Here's my "conversation" with Rhys. While kneeling in front of the open carrier, I called to Rhys to come out. Rhys replied in the negative. I called again. Rhys: "no, Mom." I called a third time, reaching into the small carrier, in which Rhys was huddled in the back. Rhys: "Mom, you are totally missing the problem here. I'm not coming out, until you fix it. I'm not stepping in THAT." And, so I was. I'm blind, so I missed that Rhys had eliminated in the front of the carrier. As soon as I put another piece of paper down over his toilet, Rhys eagerly bounced out of the carrier, ready for more cuddling on my lap and being adored by passers-bye. Rhys' "conversation", which it took me some time to translate, explained another oddity of the day. When I put him in his carrier to potty and left him for longer than a minute or two earlier in the day, Rhys would push all his paper into the front of the carrier. I believe he was trying to cover his own waste, since I didn't do it fast enough for him. I usually put fresh paper in after a potty action occurs, but I lay it in, not feeling around to determine the what and where of the toilet. Well, I've caught on to my job now. Many rescues seem to depend on online fundraisers to supplement donations from patrons. Ferrets at Heart doesn't have a base of foster families and other patrons on which to draw and is not widely known enough to have a successful online raffle or other online fundraiser. We have decided to try to raise needed funds locally. We are selling Christmas-themed stuffed animals and pet supplies outside a grocery store two miles up the road in our small town of Huron, Ohio. Friends were afraid we wouldn't bring in much sales and told us not to expect donations to amount to much. I was glad to find out the nay-Sayers were absolutely wrong. For a small town, it seems like half of everyone has had a ferret or knows someone who does. We were there on Wed. and Fri. of this week, for a total of nearly 12 1/2 hrs. (not including set-up time), we have brought in $57 in sales and $93.14 in donations (plus a blanket for the ferret room). For larger shelters, this would only be a drop in the bucket of what they need to operate, but Ferrets at Heart is thrilled to have this amount of assistance to put towards the care of our weasel hoard. We may have even found some candidates to adopt Templeton. Now, we were also advised not to tell how much we make in our fundraising efforts. The common thought seems to be that, the more you say you bring in, the less people want to donate. I'm sure all of you understand that around $150 isn't enough to cover vet care for eight ferrets. Also, take into account that we have our cost for the items we sell to cover and cost for our stand (Christmas garland, poster, tape, flyers, etc.). It isn't like we just won the lottery, even if it feels like it. Our first effort at bringing in financial support (other than our online ferret bedding store at ferretsatheart.com and Ferrets-at-Heart on eBay) is a success (so far). We will do everything possible to help our fuzzy babies. I just wish this hadn't been the last warmish week for some months; having the furkids available for people to see is a big draw. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to bring them along in cold weather (Would those little warming packs people use for their hands work?), please email me, but I don't want to put the ferrets at risk. With respect, Lori of Ferrets at Heart http://ferretsatheart.com/ ...and Rhys, Ayla, Codo, Mandie, Winter, Holly, Charlie, and Templeton -- All on the Ferret Giving Tree at www.ferretgivingtree.com/ See our eBay auctions for hammocks, beds, sleep sacks, tunnels, "super" sleep sacks, toys, and more at http://shop.ebay.com/ferrets-at-heart/m.html [Posted in FML 6881]