sometimes the humans need a vacation, and its hard to go on a vacation if you are worrying about your weasels. a cottage vacation can be a bit of a crap shoot because of the weather, but a lot of cottages do accommodate pets. I've been on cottage vacations with the ferrets before, but there's something new this time - a dog and a 10 month old baby. this vacation would have been quite a bit better, if Quasar, fierce protector of the weasels, isn't completely terrified of a 10 month old baby (and if she isn't equally terrified of swimming). the weather also left much to be desired, we had a few stormy days, and a few beautiful, part sun, part cloud days, only 1 of which is actually warm and wind still. we did make the most of our one good day. once again, the prevue ferret playpens are awesome for keeping the weasels confined. everybody except Kaie, who was sick, got to do a bit of swimming. with 7 weasels, not everybody got to do everything, for example, Ina and I were only comfortable taking 2 ferrets with us when we did a little kayaking around the lake. during the kayak trip, we came across a tiny island in the middle of the lake. it was quite fun just letting the Mochi & Lollipop loose on it, although there were brief moments of panic when one or the other disappeared under a rock. I think we'll bring leashes next time. later in the afternoon, Ina pointed me to a piece of rock jutting over the water about a 5 minute swim away. we loaded Monkey & Aurum in the ferret boat, and started towing them towards the rocks. this rock was much safer than the island we visited in the morning, it was all flat and there were no holes that the ferrets could disappear under. it was a long stretch of rocks, with parts submerge, but almost shallow enough that the ferrets could just walk between. we could have hung out there a bit longer, except that it was getting a bit chilly, and Aurum was getting a bit impatient. we left the ferrets on one part of the rock so we can try and get some stranded island ferret pictures (yay for waterproof cameras!). Monkey didn't much like being there, but there were no hammocks for him to hide in. we'd put Aurum on the far stretch of rocks, and he decided he wanted to get back to the boat. so he started walking towards it, got his feet wet, and then started swimming to the main part of the rock all by himself. however, the little blow up boat didn't offer all the comforts of home, so to our amazement, he looked at the dock, its quite a distance, and then launched himself in the water towards it! at that point, Ina and I decided we should accompany him, we did put him in the boat for a bit, but we also let him swim part of the way home. what a weasel! I'm not sure that the ferrets enjoyed our trip, but here are the pictures of their "enrichment" https://picasaweb.google.com/107549797049756791444/Cottage2011 the backyard, the beach, and the cottage are some of the few places where we have the ferrets in enclosures. we do take them out occasionally on a leash. there are 2 of us, and we try to be very careful, but we are definitely aware that accidents can happen. on a cottage trip 3 or 4 years ago, Cola escaped from our rigged up enclosure. we found her on the stairs heading towards the cottage. back then we were keeping track of 13 ferrets, this last trip we had 7, and we are so happy with the enclosures. with the enclosures, we make sure that it sits on grass in the yard, if its on bare dirt, sometimes the ferrets will dig there, and they could probably get out from underneath. on the beach, we try to have a few pieces of large driftwood on one side, and we pile sand around the edges. we keep an eye on dogs nearby, we've had one or two that are very interested in the weasels. on the dock, we tie the enclosure down where we can. the main lesson we learned from Cola's escape a few years ago, is to always have an area where the ferrets feel safe and can hide. if we have had their carrier in their enclosure back then, she would have just gone in there and fell asleep. we keep a carrier in there now and plenty of hammocks, the weasels crawl in there and sleep instead of trying to escape. the umbrella also covers a large area and makes them feel much more secure, we use it now even if it is shady enough for them. someone asked me how we do it. they are paranoid about losing someone. the above is what we do. we are paranoid about losing someone too, but we decided we'll feel even worse if the ferrets never get any new experiences. as it is, we feel like we don't take them out enough and they could use more stimulation. you may just want to start with one ferret on a leash, and if you have a few, you definitely want a ferret savy friend where at least one of you is keeping an eye. count them all the time. make sure they have their safe place to hide, not just by putting a hammock out, but by watching them and seeing that they go in there rather than frantically trying to get out. give them their treats and make them comfortable. enjoy outside with the weasels, and share your stories here! Selina, Mochi, Jolt, Cola & Aurum p.s one more thing. its not just the young and restless that enjoys it, it really depends on the ferret. Kaie, the almost 8 year old cancer patient that has since left us, was one of the ferrets who liked lying and digging in the beach the most. of course, it could be because we never dragged him out to swim! [Posted in FML 7201]