The worse thing has happened to me since loving ferrets for several years. It has been a week and a half so I know my Sparkle has gone to the Bridge. I can't show his sweet body to his cagemates so they can grieve and then bury him close to so many others. He is nowhere to be found. My daughters called me and told me he was missing and they suspected he had got out of the house. I raced home and for 11 days I have done everything recommended and suggested with no results. He is gone and a piece of my heart has died. I will never get over this as long as I live. It is all my fault. I broke one of my long standing rules...never let ferrets into the kitchen. They always loved sneaking in there while being loose.....the drawers, the wonderful pots and pans, etc. I always quickly put them back over the barrier. They so loved being in the kitchen that I decided to ferret proof it and allow them access. It was a death sentence for sweet Sparkle. For months the ferrets have enjoyed the kitchen but no more. A couple weeks ago we found Sparkle beside the washer past the barrier. It should have been a red flag but I "fixed" the problem or so I thought. We believe that Sparkle squeezed down beside the dryer tube and went outside. We don't have a basement...not many places do here on the wet OR coast. Two of my daughters crawled under the house, I stayed up night after night searching and we did many other things. Lots of phone calls from concerned people turned out to be wild bunnies or weasels living in the rocks near the ocean feeding on seagulls. We live on a dirt road, no neighbors in sight in the middle of the woods. One morning I awoke seeing Sparkle's sweet face right in front of me. I believe he was saying goodbye and I hope forgiving me. He was the most beautiful ferret I have ever seen, champagne with tiny red tips on his fur. He "sparkled". He was a rescue that my daughter brought home with Snow, Sprite and Boomer. He had lived in an old rabbit hutch outside. The first day he was missing Snow destroyed the cage, something she had never done before. She was in so much pain missing him. I feel her pain every day. Life will never be the same. Please no flames or bad emails....no one could possible beat me up more than I have myself. Nancy in Oregon [Posted in FML 7568]