[Odd, you're not on the mailing list... Please use a mailer that knows that lines are < 80 columns.] Nash is our first ferret, a five year old sterling silver, and our baby. We got him in 1988 when he was about 4 weeks old. He was so tiny, he couldn't even eat real food yet. We had to make a mash for him (wetted down crushed food), and he had trouble with that! It would stick to the roof of his mouth, and we'd have to scrape it out. It's a miracle he didn't starve to death. NEVER NEVER PUT YOUR FERRET IN CARGO if you don't want to find him or her dead on arrival. I've heard many stories of animals (not just ferrets) freezing to death in cargo, and not all airline personnel are considerate enough to warn you. We take Nash everywhere with us. If he can't go, we don't. He's flown to California, Houston, Memphis, Milwaukee, Newark, Chicago....on Southwest and yes, Continental. We just don't tell. What, you say? Unethical? Bah. This is my baby, remember? The key is a small carrier stuffed horizontally inside a drawstring laundry bag. We close the drawsting, carry the cage by the handle, and it looks like a piece of luggage. Strange, maybe, but there are a lot of strange people in this world. Southwest Airlines doesn't allow animals, period. When we flew to California, we smuggled him. I went through the x-ray with a cage full of magazines, sewing, etc. My husband went into the bathroom and put Nash into a small drawstring bag and stuffed him into his coat, zipped it up, and came through about 15 minutes after me. Voila! No problems. Once at the gate, we shifted the junk to another bag, and Nash into his cage. And on Continental, we've never had a problem. (Well, only once in Chicago, a woman ran after us screaming. But we were returning home and we certainly weren't going to leave our child in Chicago. We explained that we had gotten there without a problem, paid $40 for a ticket, and Nash came aboard with us.) We carry him in the cage, and take him out and walk him through the x-ray, just like a camera. People ooh and ahh and ask questions, but never protest. We put him back in the cage and carry on. One screaming lady and about 20 flights. Not bad. If you're too goody-twoshoes to do this, you obviously don't love your ferret as much as we do. Happy travelling!!! [Posted in FML issue 0642]