This is W.M. from anon again, with Rockey & Squeekers, God I wish we could use my real name too, but it is probably best to err on the side of caution you never know when or who might read the FML. We'd sure hate to have anything happen to these guys. The situation is not all that bad here (in Mass). Squeeks and I go for a walk (carry) very early every morning when he climbs into bed and scratches to wake me up. Usually there is at least one sleepy officer that we pass waiting in his patrol car, or perhaps he passes us as we are going along. Squeeks is most often either in a stocking cap, or in my jacket. There was a 'double take' a year or so ago, and I was prepared for the worst but he never stepped out of the car and since that time we are pretty much accepted. We have even stopped in at a local donut store a couple of times, and were recognized as a ferret by the nice lady at the counter. We have also made quite a few friends on our way and had many adventures. One of the better ones came early this week when we noticed that the crows were worked up a bit more than usual by our passage thru their woods. It was just getting light, and as we neared the edge we could see that they were also quite interested in what turned out to be a very large owl, way up in the top of a very high oak tree. He was trying very hard to blend in but not too successfully with all the crows pointing him out. As we passed, he sure spotted us. Squeekers just yawned and snuggled down in the hat. I was thinking what would have happened if he had been in my jacket and had as usual, climbed up partly on my shoulder to stick his neck out and look around. If the crows hadn't been there, or if we had not been late that morning and it was still dark. I have read too that owls are really silent fliers. Could have been 'exciting'. On a couple of other subjects, Squeeks 'bit' quite a lot back when he was 'teething'. Also it seemed that his teeth were a lot smaller in diameter, just like little needles. I found that it was much better to substitute the word "ouch!" or "ow!!" for "no". It usually was the first one that we could think of anyway, and it works pretty well for strangers too. Neither of our ferrets bites at all any more. Rocky never did bite except once when Squeekers was new, and I had him in my gloved hand which she mistook for part of him. That was a real bite, which went through a fairly heavy work glove and quite a ways into my finger. Jack our cat, of course doesn't count in all this. He is fair game at any time when he misbehaves. Squeekers (they are the same age and both endured Rocky from almost the time they were born), loves him and follows Jack around until Jack signals 'enough' with a claw. Rocky, though blind now, is like Mr Mague, constantly on the look out, and will bite fiercely if she find him. This comes from when we first had Rocky, and our other cat 'Midnight' used to attack her on a fairly regular basis. Rocky was more like the Roadrunner then, with Midnight plotting all sorts of devious ways to do her in. Usually she would duck at just the last moment, and then turn toward her target, and run like Hell underneath, turning at the last moment to bite whatever part happened to be soft and above her. Once she had him on the run she wouldn't quit. Ol Midnight used to kill lots of mice, rabbits, and even a squirrel once, which she ate and left the feet on our doorstep; but she could never lay a glove on Rocky. Concerning cages. We don't have them except for travel, but have found that the critters do need a private place to go from time to time (don't we all). One of the best ideas came from my wife who suggested a doll house. We bought a kit, and modified it by sawing out parts of a wall so that all of the rooms are accessible. Then we put a hinged door on the back, with a bolt to keep it closed. It sits in the corner on one side of our couch, and the litter box is on the other side behind an end table. Squeeks makes the trip quite admirably. After a time to get used to it, Squeekers now goes in the front door, around back and up the stairs to one of the two rooms where there is a fuzzy stocking cap to sleep in. Favorite toys are in one of the downstairs rooms, and he can see out the windows which are covered with screen nailed to the inside, to keep touch with what is going on. I suppose with a little work, the front door could be locked from the outside, and a water bottle could be put in a window, or maybe a 'hot tub' water dish sunk in the floor ??? It is not as unsightly as a cage, and they seem to enjoy it. Rocky mostly prefers a box upstairs in the bathroom, but we 'have' caught them in bed together in the house. :-) [Posted in FML issue 1031]