After sending my 11 year old daughter to her grandparents' a day early so she wouldn't see, we went to the Central Penn Ferret Rescue last night to pick up Charlotte and Gizmo. Charlotte is tiny & fast -- looks like a wild thing with her dark coloring and dark blaze--and Gizmo is a sweetie, pale brown & an immediate friend to all. When we bought them several weeks ago we took the guys (Newton & Maurice) along to see how they would do together & it seemed to be love at first sight. But last night when we re-introduced them here at home, little tiny Charlotte quickly let everybody know who's going to be the boss of this outfit. At first I thought the boys were hurting her when what sounded like cries of pain came from under the couch. She actually screams! I dove to the rescue, brought everybody back out in the open where I could keep an eye on them & discovered that the scream is the sound Charlotte makes when she attacks! No danger of her actually hurting anyone, but boy did she go after them -- especially poor Momo who was trying to make friends. Momo got so upset that he climbed on my lap, put his head on my shoulder & stayed there until he fell asleep. But things are better today. Charlotte has had her say, and at the moment all four of them are curled up asleep together. I just can't wait for gift-giving time. We're going to bring Momo & Newtie in to "see the tree," and then we're going to let the 2 new babies (not babies, actually, they're a year old) loose too. I can't wait to see my daughter's face when she sees the new ferrets she's been begging for (and which we've firmly said we can't have) cavorting with their new brothers! Hope everyone's Christmas is as merry! Dina [Posted in FML issue 1422]