To each their own, I suppose. The 'anon' advice comes from someone who is involved with rescues in California. I have heard of rental cars being emptied and I have seen moving trucks being searched. They do take things seriously, and if you have *anything* out that looks suspicious, they will search. And yes, it is paranoid - any time I put ferrets into a situation that could possibly kill them, I will be extremely paranoid! As far as plates, I meant if you rent a car with California plates, you would have a reason for where you were - depending on what entry you go to, it would be that you went to Vegas for the weekend, Reno, or Tahoe. They are so used to people going back and forth at the Reno/Tahoe/Truckee one that California plates just are waved back in. That was only if you were pretending you weren't actually moving (for example, you just are traveling across with the ferrets in the car and look like you took the weekend off for a Vegas or Tahoe trip), and someone else was driving the rental truck in a separate trip. To the person who was questioned more with California - we've never been questioned except for once with Cali plates, and even then it was "where are you coming from". We just have a parking ticket validated from a casino up there. Thinking more about it, Reno and the Las Vegas checkpoints are going to have more tourist travel for where you are coming through - so that likely plays a part in what I've experienced. If you cross without a credible story and hit when they have an itch to find something, that's a different matter. Using a moving truck, we were asked many more questions than any time we had California plates. Do you really need to go crazy like this? You're absolutely right - probably not. Would I still do it with California plates? Yes, but that is just me. And as far as the "tailing", I meant if you actually see a cop car following you or any car that is acting odd. It all sounds crazy until you lose your kids. If you're going to avoid a checkpoint that you're supposed to go through, it's a big deal, and if you look out of place for the town, it can be obvious depending on which route you're taking to avoid it. Just be careful...police have quotas, they have jobs to do. Not every cop is a donut-eating, careless officer who just ignores the law or avoids doing work. There are passionate cops as well and of course, even the seemingly caring ones who still "have to do their job" and report the ferrets to animal control. It's happened time and time again. If cops were so lazy, no one would be pulled over for fix-it tickets, or speeding 5 miles an hour over the speed limit, or for smaller, silly things that they use to get you on the side of the road. We've have seen moving trucks pulled over before being emptied, twice. If you are moving and they take a look in the back, and they see patio furniture, for example, you can get pulled over and searched - the Agricultural stations aren't just sitting there for nothing. They didn't just rebuild the station for fun so you have to drive under it completely and cannot bypass it in Truckee. There are cops that do loops on the "bypass" if you take the time to look around the Truckee area. Perhaps not at other station areas. They take things seriously if they see a 'threat'. If they didn't, they would just let people turn around who have ferrets when they are entering the state (something that is very rare for them to do and I've never actually confirmed that it's ever happened, but I've heard of it). There are a lack of volunteers that go and get these confiscated animals - including much more than just ferrets. When they get the urge to look they don't hesitate. There are times when these stations are not understaffed and they don't always just wave people through so easily. And as far as the danger once in Cali, in some more active places in California, you do have ferret clubs that pick up from local shelters. However, many times, the shelters act like they don't have the phone numbers of the pickup people or clubs or otherwise drop the ball, and the ferrets die before they can get picked up due to stress. This has happened already last year - they had several numbers and had called many times before - yet this ferret died after a few days after the hold time, and not a soul was ever called (and the ferret was completely healthy before this)....having ferrets in California is not a fun ride. Breathe a word of your ferrets to the wrong person, who spills the beans to someone else who cares, and one phone call can have authorities in your home. A child told her classmates she had one one year; they came and got the ferret soon after since someone heard about it. California citizens often have crazy stories and will fight you tooth and nail that ferrets are wild, horrible creatures that eat our wildlife among other things. I've done the education events. There are some incredibly passionate anti-ferret people here. However, due to the fact that they are illegal, there are also wonderful people who you can meet through clubs or organizations, who will help you. After being involved in the rescue, I've never seen an instance where they have a valid search warrant, but I've never heard of an owner denying entry, either, so technically the searches were done legally once consent was obtained. There have been people who downplay the danger such as veterinarians, "I wouldn't worry about it". But it is something to worry about. If your home is burglarized, you have a house fire, or you report a domstic dispute - be prepared. Hide them. Owners often report the cops "act" like they care, but say they're just doing their job. Even when you take your ferrets to the vet, customers have called and reported ferrets - cover them up while you're there. It sucks. It sucks not sharing the wonderful animals with other people. But it only takes one phone call to have the ferret removed from you. And if the animal control or shelter that receives them is not run by a ferret friendly staff, your ferret is out of luck. Either through neglect and dying from stress, or from ignorance, ferrets die in shelters still, put to sleep or not, unless some kind hearted person decides to call the right people. There have been *many* cases of ferrets being smuggled out from animal controls before they are recorded in the system, being held by someone who works there, when they knew the ferret policy was to be put to sleep. Thank goodness these people exist. For my area, most rescues we've been involved with were not dropoffs - they involved a neighbor, or anonymous person, reporting ferrets and authorities came, and when landlords or maintenance people reported the ferrets. Second is just random dropoffs or having found the ferret outside, and third is being pulled over with the ferret in the car (obviously for something else!). The bottom line is the person who had been asking for advice and boarding, was contacted with two ferret clubs. Maybe they were afraid to call the numbers or email the clubs despite their websites? I am not sure. I did not receive another reply after I asked if they had got in touch with the people in Sacramento and Hayward. That is pretty much all I can do. [YY] [Posted in FML 7493]