David I'm sorry to hear about Tass running away. My ferret has escaped several times in the last couple of years and she's always made it back home. I live far away from any neighbors or roads, we just have woods and the Ches. Bay around us. We have owls and foxes galore and even a bald eagle hanging around. I was terrified that she would be eaten! Especially because one night when she was missing there was a fox barking right in our yard and I heard it kill something. That was one of my worst nights ever! I ran out in my nightshirt and tried to kill the fox with my bare hands(of course it was long gone.) Anyway, it was summer when my baby took her vacations, so I guess it's not quite the same. If you have a plump and furry ferret he should be able to find a hole somewhere to curl up in and keep warm. That's what they're best at, isn't it? The longest she was missing was three days, and then she suddenly appeared on our steps one morning. We actually have a suspicion that she was under the house the whole time, though we looked under there a million times. Just keep looking in any good hiding places, and call her name. We played the flute for mine so she would know where the house was(she comes to the flute inside.) There is hope - just don't give up!! Good Luck Cinda [Posted in FML issue 1515]