Recently I was introduced to clear dryer hose by Wayne and Sylvia Baggett (also on the Ferret Mailing List). This has great potential as a ferret toy. Many clear dryer hoses can also be used to construct a wonderful, but rather cheap, ferret maze. The dryer hose is called "DryerMate CLEARDUCT". The package says "a product of Nemco, Inc., Grand Haven Michigan 49417." I can get it at Clark's "DoIt Center" on US Route 40 just west of Baltimore, Maryland. I have no idea where else it may be available. A section of clear dryer hose costs about $5. The ends of the dryer hose fit onto 3 inch plastic plumbing joints. These are a bit harder to find than 4 inch fixtures but are still easy to find in a hardware store. With the plumbing joints and the clear dryer hose one can construct a maze. I like to join sections of hose with T joints which provide access points to the outside. A T joint costs between $3 and $5. There also exists what I call a "psi" joint which has 4 openings: a path straight through and branches to each side. These cost about $10. A "psi" joint, besides being interesting to a ferret, can be used as one side of a loop in the maze: one arm of the joint is connected to a branch of the maze while the other arm provides access to the outside. The maze is easy to put together and take down. Since the hose is flexible it is easier to handle than rigid tubing. The ferrets also like the rough surface better than the smooth surface of rigid tubing and like the sound they make as they run through the hose. The maze can be moved around and rearranged in different configurations to hold the ferret's interest. With it I have constructed a maze for our ferrets that goes all the way around the ferret playroom. It snakes behind and under the furniture, and drapes over a platform made of 6 side-to-side long boxes there is an extra side loop of dryer hose. The maze has become a perennial hit with our three ferrets. The ferrets love to chase each other, tails wagging. One ferret goes backwards --- both ferrets have their mouths open as if they were biting. Buttercup, our youngest (an 11 month old jill) can run backwards through the maze at almost full speed. The platform of boxes is itself another maze. These boxes were used to hold slide projector screens and were left over from construction of the building where my wife Clare works. I have cut holes on the tops of these boxes so that there are many entry points from above and holes on the sides of the boxes so that there are many paths from on box to an adjacent box. It keeps the ferrets from getting bored. Bill & Clare Sebok Lupi (the dog) Ben & Jerry (5 yr old jills) Buttercup (11 month old jill. Keeps the rest on their toes). [Posted in FML issue 1045]