Karen- Most of what we hear about ferrets suggests descenting, but our vet only recommends it for aggressive animals or habitual sprayers. Our three boys are fixed but have scent glands--they almost never spray, even when they play hard. Our oldest, Magnum, also spent a night out-on-the-town and came home. He used his amazing climing skills to brace himself between the wall and a plant stand, wiggle up to the window (which was cracked open a bit), open the window further, pop the screne out of the track, and hop out onto the porch. We searched, with our cats' help, for hours with no luck. After about three hours of restless sleep, I woke up and went back out, once again with the cats. The neighbor-cat's water dish was knocked over, and the raisin trail was gone, so I knew he'd been there. As I started going one direction, the cats took of in another. I looked at where they were looking and saw Magnum's form through a bush. I ran over as he made a dash for a whole leading under one of the apartment buildings (someone else's cat was not in the mood for playing and was arched up and hissing). My cat Hunter, who that day earned his name, ran between Magnum and the whole, and I quickly snatched up the errant ferret. We, too, were shocked at his attempt to come home, and by the fact that he was unharmed. We fell ever more deeply in love with him, which led to our second ferret and a whole cache of tales and terrors. . . Adrienne, Barry Magnum, Faux-Pas, Snafu, Carlin (ferrets) Hunter & Vixen (felines) Kayla (canine) [Posted in FML issue 1473]