To Kari in Massachusetts: 75 slots out of 675! That's amazing. My ferrets and I are all way impressed. Way to go! To Scott Swain: Your story shocked and saddened me. You sound like such a loving parent. Although you didn't say so directly, I'm assuming Toons died of overheating in the car. I, too, found this out the hard way, though I was more fortunate in the end. Three summers ago, I decided to take my ferret, C-pi, camping with me while I went caving with some friends near Carlsbad, New Mexico. It was a typically warm summer day, and she was fine all the way there -- of course, my car has air conditioning. We pulled into a restaurant in Carlsbad and because I was a little worried about her (I was always worried about C-pi, maybe because she was my first real companion pet), I didn't stay inside for more than about 20 minutes. I, too, had left the window open, but when I returned, she was panting very heavily and it took at least 10-15 minutes for her breathing to return to normal. I couldn't make her drink water because she was too busy trying to breathe (plus ferrets aren't like people -- you can't reason with them and say, "here, drink some water and you'll feel better"). Fortunately, one of my human passengers was staying in town and she agreed to babysit my fuzzbean for the weekend. I was afraid to let C-pi out of my sight, but I knew it was best because she would have died if I had left her in the car during the weekend. I always said this person saved my ferret's life. Keep in mind, I had read a lot of books about ferrets before ever buying one. They all talked about food and cages and ferret-proofing and colors and discipline and diseases and what have you, but none of them mentioned the problem of car heat. I now know that ferrets are like dogs -- they don't perspire and rely on panting to cool off their bodies in a warm car. Moreover, I now know it's best to leave all your pets at home rather than risk subjecting them to extreme temperatures inside a car. And it doesn't have to be very warm outdoors because it gets much hotter than that inside a car. This time of year is the time to be careful, because it's just beginning to warm up outside again. Yesterday, I drove to a local Wal-Mart with one of my fuzzies, only to decide to leave and come back again because it felt kind of warm to me and my little Esperanza was beginning to look a bit tired. This store is only a couple minutes from my house! I am so sad about your loss. Your story is very heartbreaking, and though it may sound unrealistic, I wish I could have been there to prevent it. Linda, Espie, Frankie, Lucky Charminator, and Angel [Posted in FML issue 1139]