I have a conflict of understanding....maybe if I tell you about it, you can help me understand...... Everyone has heard of Ham and Cheese, also known as Hamilton Theodore(teddy)Ritenour and Charles Xavier Cheesepuff. They are the squirrely duo famous for the traveling trash bag, and gator alley. I don't buy bottled water very often, as I do not like the idea of furthering plastic consumption and therefore, oil, but I had bought a couple gallons for during hurricane season last year, and a case of small bottles. This is necessary for that time of year in case we get flooding, Mom is all about preparedness. One gallon eventually got taken to a sports event, the other sat in the kitchen, minding it's own business for quite some time without anyone paying it so much as a sideways glance. One day, I came into the kitchen just in time to see that Cheese was jumping up, attacking the top of the bottle repeatedly, while his cohort in crime, Ham waited patiently for the outcome. (Sometimes I think its Ham who gets the ideas and gets everyone else to implement them...they get in trouble, he is laughing... I just know it.... he does this with Chepe' too. I've seen him watching as she gets into things! He waits below the desk to cart off spoils she has knocked down for him!) but.... back to the story... I dont think any thing of it, as I do not think for a moment he could ever get the cap off. i call Brent to see what his weasel is doing, and as Brent is coming up the hall, maybe it was adrenalin from knowing someone was coming quickly, I don't know, but Cheese takes one more lunge at the bottle, grabs the cap just right, gives a twist of his head, and Pop! the cap comes off! I couldn't believe it!! He drops the cap, but quickly grabs it again and he and his buddy bolt down the hall, Ham Flying squirrelling Brent who hasn't quite made it to the kitchen, and to the living room where I later retrieve it from the stash. I was stunned that he got the lid off. the bottle had never been opened, so it couldn't have been loose, and why all of a sudden did they take an interest in the bottle that had sat there no less than three months? Stinkers....I ended up using the water for my plants, as I am sure that they would next come back to tip over the jug. I don't mind ferret lips in my water, but the rest of the family is a bit squeamish about it. Little did I know...this was only the beginning.... that nice 24 bottle case of water? I start finding bottles of water in the livingroom, leaking on the floor... I yell at the kids...."put the cap back on tightly, and don't leave bottles on the floor" until I discover the puncture marks...very distinct... like vampires would leave on a victim.... I will catch who is doing this..... It takes a while, as these ferrets get free roam from about 630pm until 1 or 2 am when I crash. In the meantime, I find more bottles. I suspect Cheese since the bottle cap incident, but I can't prove it, and he has become sneaky about it... Then, I hear rustling, This can be conflicting, as I keep a ferret safe recycle bin next to where the case of water is stored. I listen, the noise stops, I hear pattering of paws, and something being dragged, dropped, then dragged again. I look up in time to see Cheese, heading for the hall, dragging a 12 oz water bottle... I give chase, and I'll tell you, it is amazing how fast a 3.5 pound weasel can move with a 12 oz bottle of water! I grab the bottle and tell him no bottled water tonight, stinker! This happens three more nights in a row, and he finally gives up. I think he has forgotten, until one day I find another victimized water bottle spilling its contents on the living room floor. I set up watch again. I hear rustling.....I look up to see....Not Cheese, Not Ham......but Lollie, my little elderly 7 year old 1 pound 2 oz sable girl dragging a bottle of water down the hall. These guys get fresh water every day, sometimes twice a day if I see someone has fouled the bowl, but apparently, tap water has nothing on the cool crispness of bottled water stolen from Moms stash! Of course, with no end in sight, and the innocents now becoming indoctrinated to this behavior, I moved the bottles out of reach. I really find it interesting the things the choose to get into, and what they take an interest in. Never a dull moment!! Cindy & the Slightly Used Ferret gang Lollie, Dobbin, Zoe, Isadora(ble), Ham, Cheese, Taz, Martin and Chepe" missing Ollie, Sugarfoot, ElBandito, Bubbles, Noel and Franklin [Posted in FML 7383]